I don't just write about music, I live within it. There is a band that practices every weekend for hours in the apartment next door. The guy that lives next to me practices rap in his car every evening. Mid-afternoon a neighbor two floors up on the other side plays her saxophone until dusk. As the sun sets and the smoke from all the cannabis joins the smog up into the sky, guitars, bongo drums and singing can be heard from every direction, rising above the traffic and the sounds of the city.
Animal Noise is a band that practices inside an old milking parlour on a farm a lot. For garage bands in the suburbs, playing many hours over the weekend without the neighbors whining about it is a factor. There are places in my city, Los Angeles, where rehearsing is impossible. This band rehearses far away from intruding civilization, perfecting their sound with no one around, and the mileage they get from every lyric, beat and note show how their expertise originates from the hours the terrific trio has put into their art. No one tells them when to stop, where they are making indie music with style, heart and soul.
A great band does not have to be big. Tight and taunt can entertain all by itself. Josh Sandifer does guitar and vocals. Jack Gordon-Abbot is on the drums. Michael Bird handles bass and back up vocals. The audience gets to listen to music that is honest, raw enough to rock but expert enough to enthrall you without beating your ear drums into submission. Straight out of Colchester, UK, the band has started a tour in honor of their latest swank single, "Little Things."
This song exemplifies why Animal Noise is rising above the usual crowds of indie entertainers. Sandifer's vocals combine grace with attitude. The pulsing drums and bold guitars weave around the lyrics, howling like the blues, drifting like jazz, but with a rock & roll momentum proper modern indie should have to qualify for the title. "Little Things" (mixed by the very skillfull Gethin Pearson from Big Life Management) isn't banal so fitting it into the right box is going to be difficult. Good, original music is like that. Familiar, but undefinable. If the song came from real talent no single sentence can sum up its magic, let alone a categorizing word.
The group met at a crowded house party years ago where Sandifer blew away an impromptu audience with his own cover of "Big Love" by Fleetwood Mac. Impressed by the talent they witnessed, Gordon-Abbot and Bird teamed up with the young artist and they have been busy ever since, making Sink or Swim, and already distinctive EP, and touring the region starting with their own hometown's Colchester Arts Centre all the way over to the British Summer time Festival in Hyde Park, among others. This is a video of a live performance of "Little Things." It is worth listening to many times over, and is a very good reason to look forward to the first big album Animal Noise hopefully creates soon for all to enjoy.
Official website: www.animalnoise.co.uk
Spotify: http://spoti.fi/1XRapu2
Facebook: www.facebook.com/animalnoise
Twitter & Instagram: @animalnoise
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/AnimalNoiseVideos
Live Dates:
13 Oct - Norwich, Sound & Vision Festival
17 Nov - St Albans, The Horn
21 Nov - Brighton, Komedia w/ The Wave Pictures
22 Nov - Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club
23 Nov - London, Sebright Arms
01 Dec - Manchester, The Castle Hotel
02 Dec - Ipswich, The Swan
04 Dec - Southampton, Joiners
Tickets for shows available here from Wednesday 5th October at 10am -
https:// www.musicglue.com/animal-noise/listings
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