Headfirst Editor's Pick
"Midweek essential! Veterans of the Swedish underground The Janitors lurch mercilessly between nightmare psychedelia and hypnotic garage-sludge, guaranteed to send Crofters into a blissed-out stoner-drone stupor. Heavy-hitting cosmic murk FFO: Sabbath, BJM, The Black Angels, The Warlocks, Dead Meadow."
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A gig held at The Croft on Wednesday 29th May. The event starts at 19:30.
THE JANITORS
Peddlers of heavy drones and fuzzed nightmares since 2004, this is a rare treat for Bristol to be able to catch these Swedish noisemakers in the UK!
Everything’s been fucked since David Bowie died or they started up the Hadron Collider,” say The Janitors. This feeling is epitomised in the title of their riveting new album: An Error Has Occurred.
Marking over two decades of activity for the Swedish psych-rockers, the recording is informed by heartbreak and loss as well as the dismal state of the entire planet. For The Janitors, these two polarities intertwine constantly:
“What’s personal is political and vice versa.”
To channel their frustration and anger, the band revived certain songs they’d shelved during the pandemic when working on the acclaimed Noisolation Sessions. They added others, written since, that suited the mood of sticking a middle finger up to the oppressive world around us.
Whereas previous recordings were often layered up gradually, this time the full band (Henric Herlenius, Jonas Eriksson, Anders Thorell and Wilhelm Tengdahl) rehearsed intensely together before laying down everything live, over two days and nights, in a converted missionary church.
The songs on Side A have the menace of Melvins, the swagger of The Stooges and the cosmic heft of The Heads. These are the more simply constructed and poppier pieces... or so the band believe. (One friend of theirs did consider this “delusional”.) ‘In A Bliss ’acts as the album’s radiant centrepiece. A palette-cleansing love song which recalls The Jesus And Mary Chain at their most starry eyed, it finds The Janitors searching for solace and strength in straightforward companionship.
After this come the dronier numbers, drawn out with soundscapes and textures influenced by The Velvet Underground’s sonic experiments and the equally immersive atmospheres of electronic acts like Massive Attack. Hence, ‘Operator’ swings threateningly like a space-rock Swans, while the approach on‘Farewell Spacegirl' is jazzier and more meditative.“It can be hard to muster up some, or even any, positive energy at this point in time,” says Henric.
We are eternally grateful to have the creative output that this
constellation gives us. Neither me or Jonas would probably be here, or be the same
people we are, if it wasn’t for The Janitors. We’ll leave you with a quote from an old anarchist: ‘Every society gets the criminals it deserves".
SHOUN SHOUN
Grey Muzzle favourites back for more!
From Berlin now Bristol based unflinching, atmospheric noise pop and art rock
with the urban ennui of Nico and the noise of Sonic Youth.
The band released their debut album Monsters & Heroes beginning of 2022 to great
reviews and had support slots with Desperate Journalist, Freya Beer and Black
Doldrums as well as playing Godney Gathering, Astral Fest and Dot to Dot in Bristol.
Shoun Shoun's sound is hard to categorise, moving between abrasive garage rock and
soporific dream pop, playful psychedelia and carnal post punk, embracing the duality of darkness and bliss, melody and noise. Over the course of their arresting debut album Monsters & Heroes, Berlin’s vocals span the range from whisper to a scream, even incorporating some semi-spoken word on the hectic Much Sweeter before melting into a seductive murmur on the intoxicating (and intoxicated) shuffle of Sway With Me.
Shimmering with synthesised strings and a lonesome guitar from a cowboy song, it lurches like a late-night cab ride home when you’re spinning in the back seat. The singer & guitarist Annette says “Some of the tracks were written in my loft during lock-down as a way to cope with the loneliness. It was all done in complete DIY
fashion; I’m really inspired by bands like Bob Vylan and Du Blonde who fiercely protect their independence.”
NOSSIENNES
Heavy shoegaze from these Bristol gloom-merchants
Entry requirements: 18+
Peddlers of heavy drones and fuzzed nightmares since 2004, this is a rare treat for Bristol to be able to catch these Swedish noisemakers in the UK!
Everything’s been fucked since David Bowie died or they started up the Hadron Collider,” say The Janitors. This feeling is epitomised in the title of their riveting new album: An Error Has Occurred.
Marking over two decades of activity for the Swedish psych-rockers, the recording is informed by heartbreak and loss as well as the dismal state of the entire planet. For The Janitors, these two polarities intertwine constantly:
“What’s personal is political and vice versa.”
To channel their frustration and anger, the band revived certain songs they’d shelved during the pandemic when working on the acclaimed Noisolation Sessions. They added others, written since, that suited the mood of sticking a middle finger up to the oppressive world around us.
Whereas previous recordings were often layered up gradually, this time the full band (Henric Herlenius, Jonas Eriksson, Anders Thorell and Wilhelm Tengdahl) rehearsed intensely together before laying down everything live, over two days and nights, in a converted missionary church.
The songs on Side A have the menace of Melvins, the swagger of The Stooges and the cosmic heft of The Heads. These are the more simply constructed and poppier pieces... or so the band believe. (One friend of theirs did consider this “delusional”.) ‘In A Bliss ’acts as the album’s radiant centrepiece. A palette-cleansing love song which recalls The Jesus And Mary Chain at their most starry eyed, it finds The Janitors searching for solace and strength in straightforward companionship.
After this come the dronier numbers, drawn out with soundscapes and textures influenced by The Velvet Underground’s sonic experiments and the equally immersive atmospheres of electronic acts like Massive Attack. Hence, ‘Operator’ swings threateningly like a space-rock Swans, while the approach on‘Farewell Spacegirl' is jazzier and more meditative.“It can be hard to muster up some, or even any, positive energy at this point in time,” says Henric.
We are eternally grateful to have the creative output that this
constellation gives us. Neither me or Jonas would probably be here, or be the same
people we are, if it wasn’t for The Janitors. We’ll leave you with a quote from an old anarchist: ‘Every society gets the criminals it deserves".
SHOUN SHOUN
Grey Muzzle favourites back for more!
From Berlin now Bristol based unflinching, atmospheric noise pop and art rock
with the urban ennui of Nico and the noise of Sonic Youth.
The band released their debut album Monsters & Heroes beginning of 2022 to great
reviews and had support slots with Desperate Journalist, Freya Beer and Black
Doldrums as well as playing Godney Gathering, Astral Fest and Dot to Dot in Bristol.
Shoun Shoun's sound is hard to categorise, moving between abrasive garage rock and
soporific dream pop, playful psychedelia and carnal post punk, embracing the duality of darkness and bliss, melody and noise. Over the course of their arresting debut album Monsters & Heroes, Berlin’s vocals span the range from whisper to a scream, even incorporating some semi-spoken word on the hectic Much Sweeter before melting into a seductive murmur on the intoxicating (and intoxicated) shuffle of Sway With Me.
Shimmering with synthesised strings and a lonesome guitar from a cowboy song, it lurches like a late-night cab ride home when you’re spinning in the back seat. The singer & guitarist Annette says “Some of the tracks were written in my loft during lock-down as a way to cope with the loneliness. It was all done in complete DIY
fashion; I’m really inspired by bands like Bob Vylan and Du Blonde who fiercely protect their independence.”
NOSSIENNES
Heavy shoegaze from these Bristol gloom-merchants
Entry requirements: 18+
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