Pom Poko + Legss
Thursday 16th September 2021
+ Legss
At CHALK
Doors 7:00 pm
Price £12.50 + booking fee / £15 on the door
ON SALE NOW
Melting Vinyl and Love Thy Neighbour present
Pom Poko + Legss
Date: Thursday 16th September
Venue: ChalkDoors open: 7pm (early show)
Ticket Price: £12.50 + booking fee / £15 on the door
Melting Vinyl and Love Thy Neighbour are overjoyed to bring Norway’s finest punk-pop anti-conformists back to Brighton for a sure fire hi-energy show at Chalk
Norway’s finest punk-pop anti-conformists embrace their extremes in their latest album ‘Cheater’ was released via Bella Union in January 2021. Between the quartet’s sweet
melodies, galvanic punky ructions and wild-at-art-rock eruptions, Cheater is the sound of
a band celebrating the binding extremes that make them so uniquely qualified to thrill.
“If you have a vacancy for Favourite New Band, Pom Poko would like to apply for the
role,” tweeted Tim Burgess in April, as Norway’s finest punk-pop anti-conformists
revisited their joyous debut album, Birthday, for one of Tim’s mood-lifting Twitter
listening parties. Pom Poko pimp their CV on all fronts with their glorious second album,
Cheater, and, like Tim’s listening party, it fulfils any need you might have for a pick-you-up.
As singer Ragnhild Fangel explains of the leap from Birthday to Cheater, “I think it’s very
accurate to say that we wanted to embrace our extremes a bit more. In the production
process I think we aimed more for some sort of contrast between the meticulously
written and arranged songs and a more chaotic execution and recording, but also let
ourselves explore the less frantic parts of the Pom Poko universe. I think both in the
more extreme and painful way, and in the sweet and lovely way, this album is kind of
amplified.”
Both sonically and thematically, that sense of amplification asserts itself right off the bat
with the tearaway title-track. Bursting into life on the back of a blast of fractious guitar
noise, a thrashing riff and a sweetly sardonic vocal, “Cheater” laces its serotonin rush
with tangy lyrics about dreams and, says Ragnhild, the kind of “cheating kid who doesn’t
understand why they didn’t get things exactly like they wanted on their first try”:
thematic motifs that reverberate throughout the album.
The sound of four distinct personalities driving in divergent directions towards one
destination, the result is an evolved snapshot of the bracingly contrary chemistry forged
when Fangel, Tonne, Jonas Krøvel (bass) and Ola Djupvik (drums) united to play punk
during a jazz gig at a literature festival in Trondheim (the band-members studied jazz
there.)
Taking their name and spirit from Japanese animation visionaries Studio Ghibli’s
marvellously out-there film about raccoon-dog rebels with unfeasibly large testicles,
Pom Poko showcased that convulsive individuality to exuberant effect on 2019’s
Birthday. Along the way, they drew praise from NME, Interview Magazine, DIY,
PopMatters, The Line Of Best Fit, The Independent and BBC Radio 6, where
Miranda Sawyer was moved to note that Birthday’s “Crazy Energy Night” seems to
contain about 20 songs in one.
Meanwhile, a huge touring schedule included countless sold-out headline shows and a rapturously received UK jaunt with Ezra Furman.
Written in the same run that produced interim releases “Leg Day” (with its playful
dance-based video) and “Praise”, and recorded/produced in cooperation with
Marcus Forsgren (Jaga Jazzist, Broen, Arc Iris), Cheater does its predecessor proud on
every front. Bursting with colour and wonky life from its cover art (by close collaborator
Erlend Peder Kvam) outwards, it differs from Birthday primarily in that its songs did not
have a chance to be road-tested before going into the studio. But you wouldn’t know it.
As Ragnhild explains, “That meant we had to practice the songs in a more serious way,
but it also meant the songs had more potential to change when we recorded them since
we didn’t have such a clear image of what each song should/could be as the last time.”
In other words, consider that vacancy for free-thinking punk-pop adventurism in your
life filled.
SPOTIFY:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6qSC5s99fwbkvyWzRqws4F?si=teJvSHXFSjOQfnC7Gp5eKg
“If you have a vacancy for Favourite New Band, Pom Poko would like to apply for the role,” tweeted Tim Burgess
‘Gloriously unhinged.’ NME
Support Artist – Legss
This London born and bred four piece are known for doing things a little differently. Their unique blend of post punk and poetry push beyond guitar-based traditions to create instantly recognisable and punchy tracks. Lead singer Ned Green’s lyrics act as engaging monologues outing our problematic society.
The band have seen huge success in being the first in history to be the cover of both Smash Hits and Metal Hammer magazine.
Furthermore their new EP ‘Doomswayers’ has been dubbed ‘a soundtrack to the 21st century’ by Wax Music Magazine.
‘A strong distinctive presence.’ – So Young Magazine
‘Their sound is so off-kilter and mesmerising, their live energy is almost magical it feels as if you’re the only person in the room.’ – Clunk Mag
Socials:
https://www.facebook.com/legssldn