One of the more interesting new bands to emerge over the past 12 months coming way out of left field but somehow intersecting with highly accessible more mainstream currents just had to be Quadraceratops.
Complex and absorbing they reminded me at the time of Beats & Pieces by way of Loose Tubes. Take the beginning of ‘Spiderling’ a tiny hymn of a tune quietly burying itself in your consciousness. It is certainly a case of chancing on plenty of pluck in the writing, a characteristic their self-titled debut completely bears out. And the spiky septet bash out an inspired dance of a thing on ‘Dinner with Patrick,’ just one of the highlights. The good news is that under the banner of the improv club night Lume and sharing a double bill with Dee Byrne’s band Entropi the Cath Roberts-led Quads are touring in a double bill next month beginning in Birmingham at the Spotted Dog on 26 May and taking in dates at Leeds (29, Fox and Newt), and Newcastle (31 May Bridge Hotel) before moving down to Manchester for a Kro Bar gig on 1 June followed by further dates in Bristol, London, Derby and Cardiff. Full venue details and dates are here.
Stephen Graham
‘Dinner with Patrick’ – the Pat in question the very dark anti-hero of American Psycho – is a click away, above