The Craufurd Arms has lined up a veritable feast of sounds for Independent Venue Week, and local music fans of a discerning nature are holding their breaths for the return of noise-bringers Our Man in the Bronze Age who take the reins at the venue on Saturday (February 2).
“A lot of people assumed Our Man had split,” admitted guitarist Justin Hodges, and it was with reason - in 2017 the band didn’t play a single live show.
But away from the stage, the music never stopped flowing: “We have constantly been playing together, but we had taken a step back to concentrate on our personal lives,” he said.
Last February the band played a sold-out show in memory of founding OMITBA member Adam Davison, and the music-making has since continued in earnest.
The band now has enough material together for a follow-up to 2012's The Gallows Tree, and will start recording the album in late May.
“It’ll be a long process, but we’re in no hurry,” Justin said, “We’re confident it’s good material, and we’re not about to rush to finish it.”
Fans of the alternative, experimental brigade will get to wrap their ears around a large portion of the new material at Saturday’s show: “We’re going to play the new tracks to get a bit of a feel for them.
"Musically? It’s a return to the Bronze Age sound, darker feeling…a mix of the early stuff with The Gallows Tree feel. There are heavier parts and some nice melodies with lots of peaks and troughs.”
Support at the show is coming from self-confessed post-noise mutated malevolent punk jazzers Exploding Ear Ensemble (above).
Not content to leave it there though, the triple Es promise a pinch of 'disco disaster' in the mix.
ATHENS will also debut at the show. A new band it might be, but the faces will be familiar: this is the new project formed by Phema's Graham, Lee and Pete.
It’s a sterling bill, and tickets are on sale from the venue and online for just a fiver.
Grab yours here
OMITBA image: Ryan Meakins
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