Influenced by the DIY experimental scene cultivated by Black Nation, New Highway and Black Midi, south London art-rock quintet Man/Girl/Chainsaw are happiest making a racket. “We thrive on the skinny line between fairly and noisy,” vocalist and guitarist Billy Ward has mentioned. “It’s that chaos that excites us.”
Schoolfriends Ward and fellow singer-guitarist Vera Leppänen had been 14 once they began enjoying music collectively in 2019. At school, bed room jam classes turned round the clock gigging, supported by a revolving door of bandmates. It was solely final 12 months that their lineup took root, with the addition of pianist Emmie-Mae Avery, drummer Lola Cherry and violinist Clio Starwood. They’re all now 19 or 20, however hurtling in the direction of maturity has accomplished little to mood their instrumental mayhem. Ode to Clio, a standout from the band’s debut EP, Eazy Peazy, is fascinating: it begins gently, then expands and ebbs earlier than its epic finale, a violin-driven punk-rock blitz.
For all their depth, it’s the group’s sense of enjoyable that may win you over. From the madcap imagery of Ode to Clio (“She’s solely legs and arms, her limbs like hairs, unfold out starfish”) to the dry lyricism of high-school themed Sports activities Day (“I’m sorry I dropped the baton, I’m simply, I’m not that quick”), you get the sense that this wry younger band’s chainsaw is perhaps extra playful prop than grisly murdering machine.
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