Schnauser are Alan Strawbridge on guitar, Duncan Gammon on keys, Holly McIntosh on bass, Dino Christodolou on sax, and Jasper Williams on drums. (The vocals are a joint effort.) They started life as a solo project by Strawbridge in 2005, but their first album as a full band was 2013's Where business meets fashion, followed two years later by the excellent and critically lauded Protein for Everyone.
Schnauser are, in the grand BEM tradition, a thoroughly weird band. They describe themselves as "melodic pop/prog/psych", but they've been covered by sites devoted to all kinds of genres, from traditional prog to crossover pop and even jazz. Their songs are called things like 'Re-Mortgaging the Nest of Hairs' and 'Have You Got PPI?'. And sometimes they'll start a song with a curious announcement...
The amusing (if slightly uncomfortable) subject matter here is fairly typical of Schnauser. From hypertension to, yes, PPI-related cold calls, they tread the kind of left-field lyrical ground you're really not going to find anywhere else, but they sell it almost effortlessly. How the hell do you write a compelling song about a parasitic worm picked up from undercooked meat? I couldn't answer, but this lot have clearly managed it, and it's laced with wry humour - I remember a few uncontrollable chuckling fits when we heard this album for the first time.
There's more to it than the vocals, of course. This is Schnauser's first album with a saxophonist on board, and Dino Christodolou is a fresh electric jolt here, punchy and clear. That clarity is a running theme: Irritant is undoubtedly psychedelic, but it never loses itself to noodling, maintaining a strong, driving energy powered by brash instrumental stings and wild, jazzy rhythms. And it's cheerful! There's enough bounce and irreverence here to lift your spirits and keep them high throughout, and that's part of why we like it so much.
Sound good to you? Well, if you can make it to Wales in a couple of months, Schnauser are playing at the Dream of Dr Sardonicus Festival over in Cardigan, but, if not, you can still enjoy Irritant in the comfort of your own home by picking up a copy here.
Status Update
The wait is over - Suite for Piano and Electronics is out right now! Follow that link to grab a copy, CD or digital, from the webstore.
Preorders are also open now for Unidentified Dying Objects, the long-awaited new album from the inimitable Argos! The album drops on July 20th, but you can get a complementary download of the first track right away if you preorder, plus the full album as soon as it's released.
And we've a big announcement for you tomorrow, a very exciting new signing we can't wait to share with you... keep your eyes peeled.
Review Roundup
DPRP have been good to us lately, with reviews of both The Euphoric and Close to Vapour from John Wenlock-Smith! These multi-review features are great reads all round, but it's always a joy to see our artists there.
The Euphoric continues to gain traction elsewhere, with more excellent from both Gavin Brown at Circuit Sweet and The Prog Report. It might just be our most reviewed album yet, and the consensus is that, to quote Brown, it's "ecstatic and feel-good music... one of this country's best kept secrets".
As always, you can pick up all these albums from the BEM webstore!
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