THE MUTHAS / CONCRETE FUNHOUSE / SHAUN BANKS
Apothecary Tap, Banbury
It’s fair to say that Strummer Room Records have breathed new life into Banbury’s live music scene with their regular free gig nights, and in the Apothecary Tap, the town has one of the coolest and funkiest, if smallest venues around. Tonight’s gig once again showcases three emerging artists, beginning with Shaun Banks, all the way from Slovenia. Talented is an understatement with this guy as he plays drums with his feet, guitar with his hands and sings songs with his soul. He has the charisma too, getting the crowd involved from the opening seconds of his unconventional set. The music is a mix of desert blues and rock with a few unexpected twists along the way, with standout track ‘Grandmothers Chemistry’ sung in Slovakian and inspired by Breaking Bad; its dirty sliding blues could easily have been on the soundtrack. Concrete Funhouse are playing their first gig outside of their native Coventry tonight. Their set is an intense avant garde glam punk maelstrom; from the outset it’s clear this is a band who are going to do whatever they want and be impossible to pigeonhole, mixing up everything from pop to post-punk and even hardcore. Vocals are variously sung, shouted and screamed along to song structures that are almost completely unpredictable. Definitely ones to watch. Also hailing from Coventry are The Muthas. The trio amble onstage, face each other, a click of the drumsticks and we’re off into full-on propane-fuelled blues rock that only increases in intensity as the set progresses. This isn’t the kind of easy rhythm’n’blues that might see them turning up on Later… ; instead, bassist Ben Jones hits a groove that digs ever deeper, the chemistry between the three of them evident as they lock together and take us for a ride. The energy never lets up and the only thing that ever slips is the singer’s sunglasses. It’s over too soon and we’re left knowing that even in such a small space, we’ve witnessed something special. Paul Goddard – Nightshift Magazine – May 2025
ANALOGUE ELECTRONIC WHATEVER / BABY MAKER / mOrTiFi’D Apothecary Tap, Banbury
Chris Oakes of Strummer Room Records is fast becoming Banbury’s live music version of John Peel, working hard with a small team to promote a truly eclectic variety of artists at his monthly nights at Banbury’s funky Apothecary Tap. Tonight’s triple bill kicks off with mOrTiFi’D, featuring solo singer/ songwriter Morti fortified with direct drums and busy bass. Morti proclaims “I promised you f-ing weird and I intend to deliver!” and we get an assortment of cartoon punk pop stories touching on inflatable fruit, dinosaurs, aliens and D’n’D. It’s a melodic melange that climaxes with a tale about «Vacuum packed radioactive squirrels”; you should check out mOrTiFi’D for that reason alone. Baby Maker’s bio states they “cherry pick and prod at the carcass of influence”. Amidst a crescent of footpedals the solo figure does indeed seem to root matters in a lush backing track made from spare parts from the 90s, customising them with a speak-singing estuary delivery that’s embroidered with webs of live guitar. As with so much technology-driven collage-based music, it can be a challenge to balance the eclecticism of fingertipaccess-to-every-genre and makingsomething-truly-distinct when there are so many references in the mix. In this regard Baby Maker and headliner Analogue Electronic Whatever share similar starting points even if the end results are quite different. Despite a logo bearing three figures, Analogue Electronic Whatever are just a single fellow, looking like an electro version of John Hegley and referencing glam and Gerry Anderson in a James May shirt with plenty of Batman-style Zap!s and Pow!s. In fact, as he stomps back and forth enthusiastically in front of his video projections and tweaking a veritable starship enterprise-sized collection of gear, AEW manages to mash just about everything from the 50s onwards into a space-age hosepipe blast right into your face, ears and all the way beyond into someone else’s idea of the future. As with Baby Maker there’s plenty of it and it’s hard to pick out a distinct highlight, but that doesn’t mean either artist isn’t enjoyable; the crowd hops and bops for both and perhaps most importantly, at all times are only feet away from real life performers, giving their all for the sake of gigs in funky bars on small town Friday nights. Everyone here plays their part in making the event and if you stumbled across this sort of thing on holiday you’d never stop talking about it. Yet it may well regularly be happening not far from your own home if you take the time to look, so praise-be for small scenes! John Zap - Nightshift Magazine - March 2025
Nightshift Magazine - December 2024
