The Old Romantic Killer Band

After unearthing the splendid Wild Beasts, Leeds based Bad Sneakers Records continue to find unusual and interesting bands. If you subscribe to the old adage that less is more, chances are you'll fancy checking out The Old Romantic Killer Band. With 20 minute live shows and a new album checking in at roughly the same length, blink and you'll miss them. Fortunately their sound comes across as a sort of short sharp shock, leaving you wondering afterwards what exactly hit you.

The band line up of just two members continues the minimalist theme. Vocalist Harry Johns and drummer Greg Holland have been creating their blues tinged power pop nuggets since just the spring of this year, with Harry's guitar adding to his Delta tinged growl and completing the band's sound. Before the present line up took shape, TORKB enjoyed a brief prologue with former drummer Bunse who made way for the present incumbent after just a handful of gigs.

As Harry explained, "When Bunse and I started the band, we never intended it to turn into the day job that it has become," although in this brief period, a single and video for 'You Don't Know How To Love' managed to see the light of day. The band's front man also admitted that the material penned in this former line up no longer features in their live shows or indeed in their debut long player, 'The Swan With Two Necks', out on 8th December. "It's just not representative of the new line up" he added.

Turning to the recorded material, the nine track album contains a plethora of American influences including, grunge, blues, country and folk. However, a smattering of home grown pop sensibility keeps each track catchy, short and sweet. The album's longest and closing track, 'Four Season Blues' only just breaks 3-and-a-half minutes so they'll never outstay their welcome. Indeed Mr Johns is at pains to point out that his band ethos is to strip down pop music to its simplest form. "We're just a pop band who are a little bluesy but not too much, so there are no long intros, solos or outros."

The front man also intimated that he was not worried if people didn't get their music. "People will always want to compare us to bands like the White Stripes or the Black Keys because we don't have a bass player, but we don't really sound like either of them," and when questioned about the limitations of their line up, he disagreed, adding "Our studio material and live shows should be different experiences. I don't want people turning up to a show just to see us recreate our studio tracks. That would be missing the point. Our gigs are about intimacy, intensity and spontaneity of each performance, not how they compare to our recorded material.' He then added 'I'm not interested in arena rock shows either. I'd find it really hard to emote in a venue that big where the crowd are miles away.

Highlights from the new album include the infectious single 'Lover's Pass' which also boasts a video shot in what looks like an empty swimming pool. For the uninitiated it's actually a skate pool. "Skateboarding is also something that I'm passionate about although I'm not great at it. Fortunately we managed to get a couple of amazing skaters for the video."

Other memorable tracks such as 'Pigs' and 'Trouble Causer' veer between East and West coast college rock and then as the title suggests, the finale takes a firm route to the deep south, complete with slide guitar played through what sounds like a broken bottle. The album also contains a couple of quieter moments where Harry sings alone with just an acoustic guitar. The subject matter contained within each song is, according to Harry, fairly autobiographical. "Like blues, I just sing about stuff that's happened to me. I don't use metaphors, bullshit, dressing up or dressing down. I just try to keep it as real as possible"

When asked how seriously he took his band, Harry responded "Although we're a couple of young angry guys who are passionate about the music we're making and want people who listen to us or see us live to think 'Yeah they mean it.' I think it's really important that we maintain an attitude whereby we don't take ourselves too seriously. That's really important to us. I don't want to think about where the band is going to be in 1, 3 or 5 years time like some other bands that will remain nameless. We've no tactics as far as that's concerned"

Despite now having an album under their belt, immediate plans are to record some more tracks before the year is out, plus a couple of gigs. When asked how the dynamic of the band worked he responded "We don't have a gang mentality like a 4 or 5 piece band. We're also based in different cities so the time we spend together creating material is made all the better because we value our time apart. We also tend to come up with a softer song followed by a heavier song. Funny that."

Interview by Mike Price
Photography by Michael Clough

www.myspace.com/theoldromantickillerband