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Bitchpups’
live show is one of the things that’s been impressing industry and
fans alike. They played their first gig in London in November to an
ecstatic crowd of music fans, and were snapped up for future dates
including at the legendary Half Moon, Putney (following in the
footsteps of legends such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Elvis
Costello, Van Morrison, U2, and Nick Cave); the Dublin Castle,
Camden, The Garage, Highbury Corner, Islington.
They’ve
even caught the attention of the Wales Millennium Centre, the
international performing arts centre in Cardiff Bay that launched in
November.
Bitchpups so impressed the staff programming a new series
of events in the performance space in the foyer, that they are to be
the first rock band to play the new Centre on Thurs 27th
January – a massive coup for an unsigned band.
If
you’re looking for a nifty strapline to define the band’s sound,
there isn’t one - Bitchpups manager, Les Modget says you have to
experience the band live to really get the full flavour, but he
adds: “If you take a smattering of Pixies’ vibe, some classic
Metallica-style guitar riffs, bass lines spiked with Red Hot Chili
Peppers, and a sprinkling of punk, funk, rock, reggae and even swing
and you may just about have it, but not quite. It’s the element of
surprise in each of the songs that makes people really prick up
their ears and listen”.
The
band formed in March 2015 in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, and
spent over a year cutting their teeth on the pub and club circuit.
They’ve played more than 50 gigs in the last year in Cardiff,
Bristol and Gloucestershire, with occasional dates further afield
(Brighton, Birmingham) but they’re now extending their touring
patch, playing venues such as the Shed, Leicester, and now more
recently London.
The
fanbase is building rapidly: Bitchpups’ sheer enjoyment for what
they do on stage simply captivates audiences. The same expressions
keep being used: ‘incredibly tight’, ‘their enthusiasm is
infectious’, ‘love the songs’, ‘what a great stage
presence’, ‘couldn’t take my eyes off them’.
A
four-track EP, Twin (Flamingos,
Mole and Vole, Twin and Normal)
and their first promotional DVD video, Flamingos,
filmed at Newport City Live Arena, were launched in September.
VIEWS
FROM THE INDUSTRY:
Dave
Jones, of North Wales newspaper Your Time, said:
“When 10cc meet the Dead Kennedys and the Pixies land somewhere in
between you have a wonderfully brainstorming combination…
Listening to Bitchpups, the immediate reaction is that one has heard
something a bit special… Flamingos has hit written all over it.”
Richard
Osley of Camden New Journal said: “A band with innovation greater than the average wannabes searching
for Camden’s gold-paved streets. Sugar-rush vocalist
Matt … is already a confident showman … Their selling point is a
you-weren’t-expecting-that break in the middle of every song …
the punk guitars crack to silence and then start up again with a
sticky skaesque bassline. The Pups have come up with a tasty new
formula … it’s a welcome change.”
Big
Issue Cymru’s Philip Jones has said: “If
the Moldy Peaches were exceptionally talented musicians and funnier
for more than five minutes, they might be a lot like Bitchpups…
Their songs dive-bomb from … little plucks of tight guitar strings
to full-on distorted drive… the EP is just the starter to a pretty
hefty main course.”
Sound
Nation, the Welsh music industry magazine said: “The
band recalls grunge-era American sounds, specifically the Pixies
(reinforced by Kim Deal-esque backing vocals) but Mole and Vole’s
rhythmic twitches and Matt Modget’s vocals often suggest punk.
With their ability to swerve from melodic delicacy to driven
riffing, Bitchpups’ fanbase will surely continue to grow.”
The
South Wales Argus’s Matthew Blythe described the CD as:
”Twin is a slow-climbing epic … Mole and Vole could be a brain-stormer
by the Seeds … the arrangements are diverse and clever enough to
make Bitchpups make a sound of their own.”
Matthew Blythe, South Wales Argus.
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