New Band of the Week - 15/07/2013 - Thought Forms

Every now and then you do find something extra special, and Thought Forms are extra special. The glassy vocals of Blonde Redhead, the intricate guitar interplay and dynamics of Mogwai (or even Metallica) and mathematical drumming of Battles (although the drummer can switch to stoner drumming ala True Widow in a flash and with the utmost grace). Yes, this sounds too good to be true, but they're indeed a real band that exist and are busy plying their trade up and down the UK converting gig goers lucky enough to catch them. Geoff Barrow of Portishead fame has signed them up to his Invada label and he's onto a winner we reckon.

SNH Interviews...Super Best Friends Club

London sextet Super Best Friends Club are a kaleidoscope of sound, with their style very hard to pigeon hole and often described as everything under the sun; the likes of Philip Glass and Animal Collective are often mentioned. They have just released their eponymous debut album and we haven't been able to put the record down. Naturally, we needed to know what on earth is going on in the minds, so we caught up with Jonah to fill in the gaps.

The original Super Best Friends Club

How did Super Best Friends Club come together? Was there an idea of the sound you wanted?

I think the intention was excitement. Over-excitement, primary colours, the feeling that you'd never played this music before in your life, even though you'd been grooving that same riff for the last hour. And that you were playing something before thinking about it. And also lots of cross rhythms and ninths.

How did you come to call yourself Super Best Friends Club?

I really love the cohesion of the group, the feeling on stage that everyone is tearing it up constantly in their own way. And I think when I described what the band was like to someone they suggested Super Best Friends Club as a joke. I only found out a long time after that it's an idea in South Park! But if we're going to be referencing other artists, Matt Stone and Trey Parker are among my most respected artists in the modern world.

How would you guys describe your sound?

Sexually confused dream euphoria.... Or excitable music graduates trying not to think.

Their album artwork reminds me of playing with my bathroom cabinet 

We can hear splashes of Beach Boys, Animal Collective and Battles. Who are your personal biggest influences in music?

Whoa, all those you mention and also Liars, Deerhoof, Can, Neu! And a lot of world stuff. Huun Huur Tu, Albanian Men's choirs, Malian flutes, Tinariwen, Indian Classical, Balinese Gamelan. Toxic by Britney Spears.

What’s your plans for the upcoming year? 

Finish the second album, take a Europe tour in september. Maybe produce some other projects. I think also release a soundtrack to 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed', a fantastic animated film. Also open our hearts. I think that first of all and always first.

The downright spectacular art from The Adventures of Prince Achmed

You guys have played the odd show, any stand out gigs you’ve played? Any particular shows you looking forward to in 2013?

I'm looking forward to the festival season. Some nice slots appearing. Wilderness festival is a treat. Also the Peckham Film Festival where we get to just have a big kraut rock jam in front of a few hundred people whilst they spin out to Nosferatu at Frank's Campari. My favourite gigs have been the small ones. Warehouses where people are standing on top of you. Where nothing matters except the energy you create with the audience. 

You have a new (and we must say, excellent) and shiny debut record out, how difficult or easy was the making of that record? Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted before going into the studio or was the record put together/evolved in the studio?

Thank you! It was a big realisation how different a record is to a show. It's a different medium, heard in different places and so you need to create a different soundscape.  So we spent a lot of time cutting out bars, cleaning it up. Live it doesn't matter if your tuning slips a bit or if you play one groove for ages, actually I really like that, but on record it often starts to grate really quickly.

It was a fun record to record. We had a label (Tentacle Entertainments) and they were great, encouraging us to experiment. We put screams and hand claps and group percussion jams on every track, ran keyboards through all sorts of amps and processors. There are things I'd like to have done differently, but for a first record I think it's a good mix of chaos and conformity.

As a preference, touring or recording (?) and why?

Each one is terrible without the other. To be obsessing about the minutiae of each section is great for a short period of time. To not think about anything and get carried way out into space is exhausting after a while. 

With track names like Sunshine! Super Megatron! and Lord Take Me Up As I Stumble, what are your songs titles about? Is it all Transformers and religion in your band?

Yes. Mostly religion and Love, only Max loves Transformers.

You're not alone Max, and Megatron is a bad ass!

Can you give us a heads up on some of the lesser known bands in your area or that you've played with that our readers should know about?

There are so many fantastic inspiring groups out there right now... Hot Head Show. Sam Lee and friends. Soccer96. The Beguilers. Basically swing down to Woodburner at Hackney studios or The Nest Collective at The Old Queens Head any week you choose and be inspired! What a blessed time to be alive.

And lastly, an odd Super Best Friends Club fact please?

The lead singer once thought he was Jesus and gave birth to the world through his bum... It's hard to explain this but it is actually true

So there you have it, all that is left to do is listen and then buy the album from the below player. Go on! How can you resist, the lead singer thought he was Jesus at one point.

3 @ 3:33

It's that time of the week again, where we give you three songs that match our mood or the current political climate or even something as spectacular as Zlatan Ibrahimavic's goal last night. Anyways, I'm really digging TV performances right now, so I made one about my favourite Jools Holland performances. At The Drive In would have been too obvious, so no complaints for missing that...

Bloc Party - Helicopter



Sonic Youth - Sugar Kane



Battles - Atlas