The Black Watch NZ Tour
The Eskimo Record Label is pleased to announce that Los Angeles dreampop band The Black Watch, who have put out 14 CDs in the US and UK, have confirmed dates for their maiden tour of New Zealand with local act Surf Friends this December.
As Andy Gill of Gang of Four fame remarked in The Independent UK:‘The Black Watch’ have, in singer/songwriter John Andrew Fredrick, an artist capable of both My Bloody Valentine miasma and Nick Drake quietness. Fredrick, who holds a Ph.D. in English Literature, melds literary allusions to Shakespeare, Dylan, Shelley and Lewis Carroll with his own curiously personal poetic diction; his songs are as catchy and erudite as they are acerbic and, at times, whimsical. It's a great shame that this long-running indie-pop band has to rely on a tiny label out of Dorset to get its wonderfully psychedelic melodies heard."
Recent addition on second guitar and transcendental backing vocals Steven Schayer toured the with The Chills (yes, that The Chills!) after the release of Soft Bomb.
Live, the band have been described in The Big Takeover as "like The Cure or mid-period Beatles joining forces with Crazy Horse or The Velvet Underground--a not-to-be-missed experience." Icing the Snow Queen, the band's latest CD/LP garnered loads of support from flagship NPR station KCRW, and TBW have just returned from the CMJ Music Marathon.
Surf Friends' ambitious first EP on Powertool puts one in mind of, but in no way apes, their heroes The Clean: lovely lilting melodies, quite catchy hooks and a great young energetic vibe on stage.
The Black Watch, supported by Auckland's Surf Friends, are coming to a town near you!
Dec 17 2009 8:00P Chick’s Hotel, Dunedin
with Martin Phillipps of The Chills
Dec 18 2009 8:00P Wundabar, Christchurch
with Green Eyed Owl, feat. William Daymond
Dec 19 2009 8:00P Frank’s, Greymouth
Dec 20 2009 8:00P The Garden Club Wellington
with Vorn
Dec 21 2009 8:00P Yot Club, Raglan
with Matthew Bannister of the Sneaky Feelings new band The Charming Same
Dec 22 2009 8:00P The King’s Arms, Auckland
Dec 23 2009 8:00P The Live Bar, Auckland
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