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Vienna Ditto’s latest EP ‘Ticks’ out now!
"...woozy synths, skittering arpeggios, and explosions of sequined electronics..."
- Earmilk
“…a record that appears so sonically disjointed flows together quite seamlessly. - Never Enough Notes
Eccentric alternative duo Vienna Ditto’s new EP Ticks is out now via Ubiquity Project Recordings and is available to buy via the duo's Bandcamp page now.
The entire EP, which combines gospel blues, surf rock and primitive electronica to create a sound that is full of naïve wonder, is currently streaming exclusively via The Revue.
The video for title track Ticks premiered on Echoes and Dust and you can also watch it now via the band's YouTube channel.
Guitarist Nigel Firth describes Ticks as "...a twitchy paranoid song about having your identity stolen by a friend." The video hilariously shows Nigel and vocalist Hatty Taylor as their puppet alter-egos driving around town in an increasingly dangerous manner, with tragic consequences.
In addition to Ticks - which you can stream now on the band's Soundcloud page - the band have released another track from the EP, Frank Account, which you can stream from the embed below.
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, Earmilk, Never Enough Notes, 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:
14th May - The Moon Club - Cardiff
28th May - Peripheral Festival - Norwich
29th May - Common People Festival - Oxford
3 - 4th June - Brew At The Bog - Inverness
5 - 7th August - Sunflowerfest - Hillsborough
Ticks is out now via Ubiquity Project Recordings and is available to buy via the duo's Bandcamp page now.