Play 90 second soundbite of 'After Day Break' @ 'CD quality'
Pigeonholes? Who needs pigeonholes? Well, we all do sometimes - and here is one of those sometimes. Imagine, if you can, Tindersticks meets U2 meets Radiohead meets The Velvet Underground - well fbahtk actually sound nothing like that but that's the point really - I love what these five guys are doing. They call it "dark indie" - and I suppose I can see where they're coming from but even that doesn't quite fit the bill. They also say they "create a unique sound" - now that I do agree with!! I love the way the vocals are handled; very Lou Reed in delivery but with a clarity that lets you right in to access the pretty decent lyrics. Tom Blow's very infectious voice and talk/sing vocal style certainly adds massively to the potency of this outfit - he's just so right in the way he handles everything. Behind Blow's awesome voice there's the gently pounding drums and chunky bass of Joel Thomas and James Shepherd respectively whilst the shared lead and rhythm guitars of Jack Hayward and Simon Winkworth very effectively weave in and out with heady fills and catchy riffs that work to enhance rather than crowd the overall sense of free-form contemporary rock. Fbahtk (great name!!!) have certainly got something here that works. Currently the guys only fail to impress with the production and recording. But, in saying that, this little beauty, 'Point Made' still works because I can clearly see through the lo-fi thing to the superb potential of this band's material, stylee and approach. I can't help but feel that this could be made very special indeed!!
Fbahtk were new to me until today. I shall be looking out for their progress over the next weeks and months - there really is something damn good goin' down here. Nice work guys - keep me in the loop - I'm really keen to see where and just how far you can take this damn tasty thing.
It's weird but initially I didn't think that fbahtk had a commercial feel - they sounded just a bit too experimental and cult-like. After just a couple of plays I'm starting to think that there's a lot more commercial potential here after all - fbahtk could really make this work!! Hey fbahtk, 'point very well made'. Me, I love it!!
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