THIS IS THE DEBUT ALBUM FROM THE LONDON BASED GARAGE DUO
COWBELL are Jack Sandham and Wednesday Lyle.
The
duo play garage/soul/rock n roll and write songs that combine a lyrical
charm and ease with a sound that's full-bodied and powerful in spite of
their stripped-down set-up. They take their influences from both sides
of the Atlantic with a love for both the output of U.S labels such as
Stax, Motown and Sun and for British sixties R and B bands such as The
Small Faces, The Kinks and The Zombies.
The pair had been friends
for a long time when in the in summer of 2009 Wednesday decided to
start playing the drums. Jack had been involved in bands before but was
playing solo shows when Wednesday asked if he’d come along and play
guitar. It felt good straight away and they started writing songs and
played their first gig together just one month later.
They
released their first single ‘Oh Girl’ in July 2010 on Stovepony Records
(imprint London Blues/Americana Club ‘What’s Cookin’ ) and it quickly
picked up by Lauren Laverne and Chris Hawkins of BBC 6 Music and John
Kennedy of XFM who all played the track regularly. This led to the band
being asked to release their second single ‘Never Satisfied’ with Too
Pure Singles Club (Beggars Group).
In November 2010 ‘Never
Satisfied’ was single of the week on both BBC Radio 2 (Radcliffe and
Maconey) and BBC 6 Music (Nemone) this coincided with a tour
supporting
the newly reformed CAST. Lead singer John Power had seen the band play
in their native Stoke Newington and asked them to play all 13 dates at
O2 venues around the UK including shows at London’s Shepherds Bush
Empire and Glasgow’s Barrowlands.
In spring 2011 the band went
back into the studio to record their third single ‘Hanging by a Thread’.
They chose to go back (for the 3rd time) to Gizzard Studio, an all
analogue studio run by Ed Deegan. They have found that recording to tape
using old analogue equipment ideally suits their stripped back sound
and aesthetic . They decided to self-release this song on their own
label ‘Cool Jerk Records’ on limited edition 7’’ vinyl (in keeping with
both previous singles). The single was played by new DJs including
Janice Long of BBC Radio 2 and Jo Good of 6 Music as well as others
continuing their support.
After a busy summer of gigging Jack and
Wednesday went back to Gizzard to work on their debut album. As well as a
handful of their signature garage pop songs the album showcases more
diversity, from the down-home country style finger picking of
‘All in
Good Time’ to the Delta Slide on the rollicking ‘Tallulah’. It also
sees the introduction of Wednesday singing lead vocal on two songs the
honky–tonk garage blues of ‘Love Got me Down’ and the ethereal ‘Castle
Walls’
TRACKLISTING
1 Tallulah
2 Hanging By A Thread
3 Never Satisfied
4 Love Got Me Down
5 Mississippi
6 Scratch My Back
7 Bills
8 Castle Walls
9 Oh Girl
10 All In Good Time
Also available by Cowbell on Damaged Goods Records
‘Tallulah’ 7” (Cat No: DAMGOOD403)
MINT COPY