If I really wanted to get back at my neighbour right now I’d be playing something truly awful like Cradle Of Filth super loud, or I could treat the inconsiderate swine to something like The Creeping Ivies. Instead I am being thoughtful and selfless and playing them through headphones. See sometimes, I can be alright.
As you know I’m big on duos. Two people can change their own world and influence those around them. Don’t change the world, change your own. Duos to me are just perfect. They hit the drums harder, they scream a little louder, they turn their guitar amps a bit more, the bass-line makes you move a bit more. There’s something about duos that make you feel as if you are part of something.
A duo that I absolutely adore are The Creeping Ivies. I’ve written about them so many times, and even if they stopped making music (I don’t want to think about that) I’d probably still write about them. Their sound is everything I love about music. It is a mixture of bands I’ve grown up listening to and with something else I can’t really define. Becca and Duncan are stylish folks who play with the passion that a lot lack.
Love Kills is taken from their new record Ghost World which is out this year. Becca’s vocals are egged on by Duncan’s ferocious drum thumping. They’ve made a sound that is found in no one else around, which is why I truly adore them. Most fawn over shitty folk bands crying into their banjos (sounds worse written down) but why buy into something so trivial when bands like The Creeping Ivies exist. Sure they may not be to everyone’s taste (cut those people out of your life, they probably wear crocs or chinos) but they are keeping alive one of if not THE most important genre of music of all time- Punk. They’ve got the attitude of Patti and the Ramones mixed with the raw sound of say, The Cramps. Basically, they sound like everything I love which is why of course, I am a fan.
They sound like the band I’ve been waiting for. That’s the only way I can describe them. They are what you’ve been waiting for.
Play loudly.
Beat In My Bones. 
That’s pretty good – I played loud as instructed 🙂
There’s plenty of raw monochromatic garageband energy and ethos on display and listening to their (very cool Cramps looking) bandcamp page, enough about the pair to avoid being lazily labelled as “the next White Stripes” (every boy-girl duo gets saddled with that one…)
Not sure about “shitty folk bands” though – think you’ll find (here anyway) that it’s usually a ukulele rather than banjo – and there’s a lot of really good contemporary folk music out there…
Loudly is the best way!
I’m not into Folk, it bores me a hell of a lot. Probably because what England has to offer is truly awful such as Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling etc. All sounds the same really x
And if I still lived in the UK I’d agree, but once you’ve moved to the States (sorry), you realise how rich and varied the how interwoven the musical themes of “Americana” are (I’m talking country, folk, blues). And yes folk-music in the UK can be “bland” (although aren’t Mumford & Sons just rich kids trying – and failing- to play cool?). But think this might make you change your mind – check out Angel Olsen’s new album “”Burn Your Fire For No Witness” – especially “Forgiven/Forgotten”
Oh yes the American take on it is a lot better for sure. I do love Angel Olsen, she’s touring the UK in a few months 🙂