Standard Fare may be named after a sign spotted on a bus, but the effect is anything but pedestrian – these Sheffield indie poppers are the kind of band whose name you’d happily scrawl on the cover of your school exercise book. A power trio comprising Emma Kupa, Danny How and Andy Beswick, they’re set to release their debut album, The Noyelle Beat, jointly on Melodic and Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation.
Recorded in six days with an indie aesthetic that would have made John Peel proud, the album is named for a formative period in the band’s development when they travelled across the channel to play at a festival in Noyelles Sous Lens, France. “It was where we felt our sound came together,” says Danny, and the collection of songs they were playing became The Noyelle Beat.
What does The Noyelle Beat sound like? Packed with lovelorn tunes, youthful energy and Emma and Danny’s brilliantly balanced his ‘n’ hers vocals, that’s what. The album even displays a uniquely charming approach to world issues: “Global warming is getting me down / It’s making the sea between us wider and deeper,” sings Emma on Philadelphia. Elsewhere, 15 tells the story of a strange attraction for a 15 year-old. “Nothing happened!,” we’re reassured.
If that seems like slightly difficult territory, it’s part and parcel for a band whose lyrics put love lives to the fore. “Our main influences are relationships and experiences,” they say. “These songs are often what we wanted to say to someone at the time but couldn’t articulate. There is often a fine line in the nature of relationships and friendships. And there are many emotions and situations common to both. But since the songs are often based on true experiences it is good to retain some vagueness about who they are about…”
“A riot of hormones, cut-to-the-chase lyrics, bolshie girl-boy vocals and jingle-jangle propusion…The best and most loveable aspects of indie guitar music.”
The Sunday Times (4 stars)
listen to Standard Fare here http://www.myspace.com/standardfare
flux=rad presents STANDARD FARE
with CAT MOUSE CAT
Tuesday 11th May 2010
Cardiff Arts Institute, Park Place, Cardiff
8.00pm-midnight
Cat Mouse Cat will be onstage 9.30pm
Standard Fare will be onstage at 10.45pm
free entry
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