Phoebe Killdeer & The Short Straws return to the UK in May for four shows in support of the release of their debut album ‘Weather’s Coming…’ out on 5th May 2008 on PIAS.
The Parisian quartet received fantastic live write ups from their previous turn in the UK in February supporting Nouvelle Vague on tour, with whom frontwoman Phoebe Killdeer used to guest vocal.
Full dates below:
Sunday 11th May Nottingham , The Bodega Social Club
Monday 12th May Birmingham , Glee Club
Tuesday 13th May Oxford , The Exeter Club
Wednesday 14th May London , Barfly
Currently breaking in a blossoming French music scene, Phoebe Killdeer & The Short Straws have carved a fanbase in their home country, where US rap and reality TV shows dominate the musical landscape, with their stark blues-flecked acoustic arrangements alongside rockabilly backbeats.
Inspired by people watching, and given Phoebe’s unique twists and turns, some songs are dark enough to make Nick Cave proud, notwithstanding some pop rock classics in the making. ‘He’s Gone’ is a gorgeously defiant statement about getting dumped, ‘Looking For A Man’ offers a Rules-style blueprint for finding a boyfriend, ‘Jack (I Like You Very Much)’ as barefaced a come-on as you’ll hear in song, to the intense inner quizzing of stand-out opener ‘Paranoia’, their debut UK single out July 7th.
A residency at La Fleche D’Or, the cool indie rock hang out of choice in the French capital, helped spread the word sufficiently for mainstream radio and TV to come knocking. Recently performing alongside international chart acts like Duffy on France’s flagship TV music show ‘Ta Ra Ta Ta’, their album ‘Weather’s Coming’ is currently at No.1 on the Feraliste playlist, the most played album on Ferarock radio stations across France.
So called by Phoebe herself for having the misfortune to find themselves backing her, The Short Straws are Cedric Le Roux (guitar), Raphael Seguinier (drums) and Alex King (bass). Each brings their own style and influences to the pot. Alex is into punk, Raphael is into experimental pop, Cedric brings the more soulful rock’n'roll. Phoebe herself cites Tom Waits, Art of Noise, Yma Sumac, Patti Smith and Carmen McRae as her main inspirations, though live she’s a whirlwind blend of Wanda Jackson, Roisin Murphy, PJ Harvey and Jane Birkin.
In the UK, they take their place alongside the new wave of rock’n’rollers, Vincent Vincent & The Vilians, Peggy Sue & the Pirates and Carlos & The Bandidos, with Carlos co-writing one of the stand out tracks, ‘Jack’, from ‘Weather’s Coming…’ with Phoebe.
For the album, Phoebe worked closely with Marc Collin, one of the producers behind Nouvelle Vague and a recording artist aka Volga Select. Their paths had crossed by chance. Brought up between the UK and France , Phoebe had already began writing raps and spoken word tracks when she relocated to London to work in a recording studio.
Her sister – now her manager – began sending out her work on spec and when Collin heard her demo, he invited her to supply vocals for Nouvelle Vague, where she remained on the live circuit (and on their second album ‘Bande à Part’) for three years.
Other collaborations include Bang Gang, Basement Jaxx, True Stories, Ernest Saint Laurent and zero dB. For her first proper solo project, Killdeer returned to Collin to finetune.
“I wanted the sound of the album to be dirty enough to represent the quirkiness of those characteristics of people, so with Marc Collin we got some crazy horns, ghostly vibraphones, edgy guitars and tribal drums together to capture the necessary mood.” ‘Weather’s Coming’ was recorded in six weeks in Paris and mixed by Oz Fritz (George Clinton, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Bob Marley) in San Francisco .
Find out more about the band by visiting their websites: http://www.myspace.com/phoebekilldeer – www.phoebekilldeer.com
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