Enigmatic three-piece post-punkers The Sticks return after a four year gap, with a brand new selection of warped and primal laced tracks in the form of the "NO SUSTAIN" E.P
The Brighton based trio continue with their minimalistic and disjointed style of music, clearly influenced by the early 80s DIY culture and C-80 tape scene, The Sticks have always been that band who would richly deserve to be on a Messethetics compilation.
The songs on this extended-play release fuses their influences of this past music scene but also combines new and unusual interplay which give The Sticks a very unique and fresh sound all of their own and totally individual to them. When you hear a Sticks track, you know what you're hearing but can never pin-point what the influence is and thats the magic of The Sticks.
The Sticks' members James "The Plague" Tranmer, Iain Paxton & Stuart Cartland each share the musical input rotating instruments and vocal duties as and when it suits them.
Side A kicks off with the title track 'No Sustain', the track sounds like it would easily have been released by Fast Products in 1980, the song deals with themes of the mundane, the boredom of modern life, the safety of living a "normal" 9-to-5 existence... The guys sing it with a nonchalant feel, which exemplifies the boredom of Brighton life (don't be fooled folks Brighton isn't that great!!!).
'Cobblers' starts off like some lost 60s garage obscurity, then takes an amphetamine hit where the song explodes into a myriad of visualisations, documenting more kitchen sink drama in the form of walking "cobbled" streets of any suburban town and The Sticks warns you to "BEWARE THEM" in the songs first line.
Flip the record over to Side B and things begin to get weird, 'Air Atlantis' has an almost Gang of Four feel through the spectrum of a Captain Beefheart or even Early-Floyd acid-trip, the guys are retelling the dizzy heights of air travel to the fabled lands of Atlantis, could this just be fiction?? or are the guys on a cosmonautical inner journey?? who knows?? ask them??
Casual Man, hits like some Hip-Hop track if it had overdosed of Kool-Aid and watched endless episodes of Sesame Street, The Sticks sing of the Casual Man - the guy we all see walking walking the town centre on a Saturday night and all slightly hate and despise, this is all the more amusing with the groovy bass-line which almost sarcastically takes the piss in its own funky way.... AMEN to The Sticks.
The No Sustain EP, will be released on OCTOBER 31st 2016.
It will be limited to 300 copies only and come in hand-numbered risograph sleeves, there will also be lyric inserts which the band themselves are going to be risographing too.
The record will be in a number of mail-orders and a couple of record shops.
however to buy from source please go to www.marketsquarerecordings.bandcamp.com on the day of release.
Also.... go and check out the Sticks on Facebook here THE STICKS FACEBOOK
