Citadels

Bramble and Jimmy Lazers started writing together fresh out of the education system in 2006 having bonded over a mutual appreciation of gabba and David Crosby. They enlisted beatsmith Colonel Von Rock (both had worked with him previously) to keep them in time and general good health. Next sunchild Lucy Taylor was ripped from the cozy bosom of star solo flautist fame in the Barnet Symphony Orchestra. Permanently borrowing the Turkish child prodigy Chris Sirin in 2008 from a burgeoning England Hockey career, the lineup was complete. The Animals EP quickly followed which brought attention from London’s famous free mag The Fly, Steve Lamacq, Tom Robinson, and Gary Crowley of BBC 6 Music, and strong support from Channel 4 Music and Alex Zane. Having only played one gig the band were selected to support Architecture in Helsinki at New Slang and Fields at Proud Galleries in Camden. When Fields had to cancel they were bumped up to headliners and whipped up such frenzy that they were immediately booked to headline Proud again, along with a number of other headline gigs across London and beyond. Taking a general Westerly direction to music making (like the relentless sweep of Manifest Destiny without the White Supremacist overtones) they retain a sense of depth, intelligence, and playfulness that makes them stand out against the current backdrop of ubiquitous throwaway 80s-influnced electro-pop. Badalamenti synths and cascading flutes cross with fuzzy guitars to take on a pioneering powerpop form that never loses sight of a good tune. Seeing themselves in the tradition of eclectic pop music devoid of limits they are able to introduce elements of any genre that seems appropriate/inappropriate without being everything to everyman. This all adds up to an arresting live show that reviewers have described as ‘carnivalesque’ and a ‘heaven-bound dream-laced excursion’. Citadels is the shiny you discover in your sticker pack, the rare card in a collectible card game. You want it. You dream of possessing it, even if only to sell it on for profit. Levels. With a storming set at Brighton’s Great Escape they were chosen as support at Joy Formidable’s sold out Borderline show on the 8th June and booked for the up and coming Standon Calling festival on the 31st July. With the single on the way 2009 is shaping up to be a great year for these fantasy pop starlings… The debut single, Golden Islands, will be released on the 27th July on Friends vs Records. Listen at Last.fm