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Introducing… Vienna Ditto!
"...woozy sci-fi inspired blues fused with catchy melodies." - Gigslutz
“…wild-eyed rockabilly riffs with sparse, atmospheric electronica.” - Q Magazine
Vienna Ditto’s latest EP Ticks - out Friday 13th May 2016 via Ubiquity Project Recordings - combines gospel blues, surf rock and primitive electronica to create a sound that is full of naïve wonder, yet mildly threatening.
The title track from the EP premiered on Gigslutz and you can also listen to it now via the band's Soundcloud page.
Ticks is a collection of seven sonically-alluring sci-fi blues tracks that slip somewhere between a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack, a charity shop Bacharach-on-the-Moog-Synthesizer album and a bad night on the brown acid.
Each track has its own sound; Frank Account swaggers like a glam rock incarnation of the Andrews Sisters, whilst infectiously-catchy title track Ticks - which grouches along on a deeply Kinks-y riff and a Planet Rock electro beat - crackles with a nameless, twitchy paranoid disgust. The EP also features more gospel-influenced tracks such as Motherless Child, which feels almost like it could be a cut from an Etta James or Nina Simone record, with lead singer Hatty Taylor’s smokey, bruised vocals taking centre stage. The band put the dark, almost dystopian vibe that clings to the whole affair down to “...mainly being up at night, not eating so good and watching (German 20s Expressionist film) Metropolis over and over”.
The pop-noir duo consists of Hatty Taylor (vocal and synth) and Nigel Firth (guitar) who first met in 2000 when Nigel taught an eleven-year-old Hatty to play guitar. Ten years later, they formed a band in Oxford and have been creating exceptional, boundary-pushing music ever since. Nigel is the engine behind Vienna Ditto’s restless experimentation and sonic evolution, while Hatty is responsible for the band’s effortless and enchanting lead vocals.
Vienna Ditto have already received praise from the likes of Q Magazine, Artrocker, BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens and BBC 6Music’s Tom Robinson amongst others. With Ticks, the unlikely, delectable and ever-so-slightly dysfunctional duo delve a little deeper into the phenomenal sonic capabilities of combining blues, electronica and surf rock to create something truly mesmerising. Catch Vienna Ditto live at the following dates, with tickets available from their website.
1st April - The Wheatsheaf - Oxford
16th April - Boileroom - Guildford
16th April - Rock For Refugees - Boileroom, Guildford
6th May - St James Wine Vaults - Bath
12th May - The Bullingdon - Oxford
13th May - Rising Sun Arts Centre
14th May - The Moon Club - Cardiff
3 - 4th June - Brew At The Bog - Inverness
5 - 7th August - Sunflowerfest - Hillsborough
Ticks is out on 13th May 2016 via Ubiquity Project Recordings and is available to pre-order via the duo's Bandcamp page now.