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We're generally so disheartened with new music, it's become our plight to put right all of the musical wrongs that are out there. Fuck style. This band is not about pretense. Click the link to hear new songs and Tom & Alex talking about the album Ten Tune Truck A series of 10 seven inch records counting down the months to this year's Truck Festival. The all new Truck 7s club kicks off in excellent fashion with The Electric Soft Parade's Life In The Backseat On the flip is Alex White's side project - Actress Hands with Why The Sale? Click the link to hear song clips Buy from Truck ESP played at the Truck Festival click link for reviews & photos. They have a track on this years Festival Compilation titled The Friday Before Christmas More info This song is also featured on the It's Not Like Christmas compilation in aid of Shelter. Update from Tom on 16/09/06: What a nice time ESP had in Rotterdam t'other day. We had a blinding show, and contrary to the reaction we've previously had in Holland, the 100-or-so folk who came down (to our first show in the country in four years!!) were with us all the way, and even granted us an encore! nil points to the guy down the front, putting me off by dancing strangely in his luminous jacket, though!!!! lush one! p.s. No Need To Be Down-Hearted is finished. It's time for that most shameful of admissions; the "I don't really know much about this band" line, which is trotted out on many occasions by many a scribe destined for mediocrity (or should that read New Media?). What the hell, I don't. I know the singles, Cold World, the Human Body EP and little else, save for some astonishing new material the band have recorded on their Myspace site such as Secrets. No, Incendiary is more familiar with the brothers White's side project from ESP, Brakes, who regular readers will know as favourites of this magazine. Still, we were looking forward to this ESP gig in Rotterdam, as indeed were they; as it's been (as Tom tells the crowd) almost four years since they last graced the boards over here. All the usual descriptions of their music (yes the ones I'd read in passing and as research for the gig in Rotown) are validated by this - it has to be said - pretty triumphal performance; the classic rock band stance, the multi instrumentation, the lippy demeanour but mostly the incredibly, consistently high level of the song-writing. Noted songs are the "new ones" one poppy thrash which I think is called If That's The Case and another developing jam which reaches Guided By Voices levels of sonic intensity. Cold World sounds great as indeed does Start Again's maudlin crunch. Another point of note is that Alex has a very, very empathic vocal delivery which has the odd Revolver era Macca inflection. There's a refreshing degree of fluency and devil may care attitude about the ESP live show. In some ways they are a classic band, in that they have been around the block and are still frighteningly young, a bit like Traffic were in 1969-70. There's a sense of openness about them too which is refreshing given the amount of careerist puppets currently diverting teen attention. The audience, modest but respectable given the time between the band's Dutch gigs, are happy not to say relieved that a band who promise so much haven't folded in the face of well documented adversity. Indeed, on this evidence, good times are just around the corner. kindamuzik.net on Rotown 14 September. A few lines from the online translation. Brothers Thomas and Alex White make already from the beginning of this millennium beautiful songs. Their debut is in the impressive blueprint of ingenious britpop, powerpop and shy psychedelica... On their creative high point they formed with (Eamon) of British Sea Power the messy Brakes, where humor led the dominant tone. The public of Rotown has their curiosity aroused to the live-execution of (their return) Good are the radiation and dynamics of The Electric Soft Parade… the tempo change in numbers as the enchanting ‘Silent to the Dark’… what addicting (songs) with the nodding heads in the audience. These factors, in combination with the strong song material make one fine evening of British live-music. Is there yet hope for the future? Oh yes, the songs from the Human Body EP sound more solid than the rest of the set.  blog.myspace.com/gideonk Electric Soft Parade, last thursday. What a lovely songwriters, really liked the show and hope to see them when the new album is out (next year) blog.myspace.com/ginandmilk 17 August: Electric Soft Parade at Volks last night so good, such a good band. They played for like an hour or so, no encore think Tom was pissed bout sound or somethin, Matt Priest ex Dodgy on drums of course brill, he's lovely. Best gig been to in ages. From the Brakes board: Ian: ESP at the Volks was ace last night by the way! Good mix of songs too, in no order whatsoever: Lose Yr Frown, Things I've Done Before, Red Balloon For Me, There's a Silence, Empty at the End, Misunderstanding, Beating Heart, Everybody Wants, Cold World, Biting The Soles Of My Feet. Lemming: If That's The Case Then I Don't Know and that other newie... don't know the name of it! Shame about the technical probs all the way through... Tom broke a string on the first song! Tom: "Although it's kind of a drag when you go back to small venues for the third or fourth time, I guess in a lot of peoples eyes we're starting again so it never feels anything other than completely natural. And on this tour, for the first time in about four years, we've had kids coming to the shows and hearing us for the first time, which is a real bonus!" However, following some time away from the limelight Toms view is understandably realistic. When I ask if it was a conscious decision made by the band to support their second album with 7 inch only singles, his frustration with the music industry becomes more obvious: Tom: "All of that stuff was the label itself making decisions. It was all quite wrong, considering we were up for building on what we'd achieved with the first record. They just seemed to want to forget about us as quickly as possible. To be fair though, it was always going to go either way and listening to that record in hindsight, it still sounds a million miles away from the usual toss majors spew out" Tom: "It's never felt like a success when I listen back to our records - there always seems to be something missing - but with the new EP I think we've accomplished something far greater, musically, than ever before... I can't stop writing songs so I guess there'll always be a new album or something or other on its way" How do you feel about The Human Body EP? Is it the best thing you've done so far? Tom: I think it's pretty much exactly as it should be. Considering the fact that it came out as soon as it was done—you know, we just got it straight out—it feels pretty good and is exactly what we needed. Anything you want to say about the upcoming record? Tom: It's more than halfway done. We're doing it with Truck up at a studio in Oxford. It's pretty stripped-down. We're doing it three or four days at a time. We're doing a lot of Brakes stuff at the moment and have a lot of festivals coming up this summer, so we're just doing it as we can, and we're slowly getting there. Musically, it's the first time we've been in the studio without a producer or engineer or anyone else, with just a few people coming in and out and plugging things in. Matt, who plays with us live on bass, has been playing with us on a few tunes. It's kinda cool. It's never really just me and Alex. The band is always a kind of gang when we get ready to do a record. What were your musical inspirations growing up, and how have they changed as you've gotten older? Tom: I think really obvious stuff, but it's still great. Being a child — like 10 or 11 — The Beatles... the really pop stuff you get into when you're a kid. That was kinda what I listened to when I was really young. The Super Furry Animals were really the first band I got into in terms of buying the records the day they came out and getting really excited, and they were the first band I got into seeing live. After that, we discovered fanzines and good music press — THE WIRE over in the U.K., stuff like that. The stuff I listen to most now is stuff like Wire, Mission of Burma, kinda heavy stuff in the production — especially Wire, the first three records. They're just untouchable. No one's even come close to their originality. Also, stuff like Robert Wyatt. I love him. I'm slowly working to get his back catalog, discovering a new record every couple months or whatever. I think he's a big influence on some of the EP and quite a bit of the new album. Click link for Interviews with ESP, Brakes, and reviews including a few of The Tenderfoot (Marc's in the band and also in Brakes) Great Escape at musicomh.com Electric Soft Parade's Thomas White is delighted to be an integral part of the event: "We're honoured to be a part of Brighton's first Great Escape Festival - it should be a blast. We're playing the most beautiful sweat-box in town, The Freebutt, which held our first proper gig, back in 1997" he reminisces. "I was 13..." They played Friday @ The Freebutt, 10 PM ESP @ thespacelab.tv with a fan photo. Better Looking Records have signed the Electric Soft Parade to release their upcoming EP (in America) titled The Human Body EP. Due out on May 9th, the EP was recorded in a five day marathon session by brothers Alex and Tom White. "I guess at the moment, it's trying to emulate Robert Wyatt, Pet Shop Boys, Neu and the Mission of Burma all at once..." Tom White said in describing the band's sound. ESP news @ 30music.com Better Looking Records is getting some action going again, and they're doing it all British brother style. The Electric Soft Parade are a duo with occasional help, Tom and Alex White being the men in charge. BLR will release The Human Body EP May 9. That would be the group's first record since The American Adventure in 2003. silentuproar.com ESP have a new EP, The Human Body. It is, hands down, one of the best things I've heard this year. And thanks to Better Looking Records it will be available in the US on May 9th with the bonus track, "The Captain". 
 March 17, Fri. - Austin, TX @ Nuno's 422 East 6th St. [1am - SXSW showcase] Flyer March 18, Sat. - Austin, TX @ SXSW Day Stage [2pm] More info March 18, Sat. - Austin, TX @ Wet Salon [3:30pm - Propaganda Party] Flyer BMI Day Stage Cafe: From the Gallery @ Holiday Matinee (scroll through) Truck records 20.02.06 news round up: Truck are off to SXSW in Austin, TX to showcase some of our bands. The Truck/Better Looking/Mute Song/File 13 showcase will take place at Nuno's upstairs on Friday 17th March, and Piney Gir, Goldrush and ESP are all on the bill.  Holiday Matinee Mailout SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST – Holiday Matinee will be representing at BETTER LOOKING RECORDS Showcase on Friday, March 17 @ Nuno’s. Come check out GOLDRUSH and BLR’s new signing ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE! Want to know more about HOLIDAY MATINEE? Hop on over to our newly remodeled About Section for home movies, slideshows and more. Cold World is the soundtrack to Holiday Matinee's home movies...  (scroll down to find ESP's which has a photo by Kirstie) Electric Soft Parade: High point: Got nominated for a mercury music prize. Low Point: Dropped by Sony/BMG. High Point: Soon to play SXSW and they are back on form. Genius pop songs. I'm really glad they're still making music. ESP at SXSW Page You can download or stream Cold World. After parting company with BMG in 2005 the world might have been a cold place for ESP. Roll on a great new EP on Truck, press and airplay and the ESP wagon is rolling again. Mercury nominated for their debut, in 2006 they're now entering their best era yet. Also: The Silent League [midnight] Odiorne [11pm] My Way My Love [10pm] Goldrush [9pm] Piney Gir [8pm] Info from file-13.com  Austin360.com on Nuno's: On two recent visits, humidity poured through the open façade, intensifying the Bourbon Street vibe of the place. Cover bands play soulfully -- backs to the sidewalk fans -- for appreciative listeners, cooled down by watery drinks. This is Sixth Street as loved by tourists and loathed by music critics. Those of us caught in between just let the music pour over our senses. ESP will be making sweet music in March/April at Truck Studios Read the Studio Story It has become the place to go if you want to make recordings that sound a little different to everything elsewhere, and usually a new bit of equipment lands in the studio every week or so, edging us a little closer to "professionalism". In the meantime we're happy to hear our recordings all over Radio 1 and read about them in the press... Tom @ the Brakes forum 18.1.06 on ESP's new album: well, planning on finishing a third one in April to be out for September - started recording it between Christmas and New Year up in Truck studios (in one of the Truck Festival barn thingys in Steventon) and sounds mighty - engineering it ourselves it seems this time... just sorting out last agreements/ contracts between ourselves and Truck and it should be plain sailing... oh, and Twaites is on bass/electronics for the sessions!! and vocals, if we can get him pissed enough. |