finally, a love song we can relate to...

cracking knuckles, snapping bones in backs, chaining fists together- a violent display of affection not only relegated to a drunken saturday night! this is love. we want you, yes you summer camp, to play the first fictitious dance, at our first fictitious wedding.

http://www.myspace.com/summercampmusic

[aine herlihy]

the jezabels interview.

the jezabels are an australian four piece that know how to create a thundering pop hook that is at once visceral, intimate and epic. like a painfully aware emo kid they declare their sound to be 'intensindie'. which it is, when lead singer hayley mary's voice soars to kate bush or florence welch heights.

the band's last london show was a stunning sold-out performance at xoyo. they now return for a show at heaven on tuesday 29th november- set to be their biggest headline to date in the uk. poxymash caught up with sam of the jezabels to talk intensity...

poxymash: how did the band come to be, sam?

sam: we met at sydney university. we didn't know each other that well - though hayley and heather at least had known each other for a long time. i met hayley outside the library and we shared a desire to start a band. we then recruited nik via the cafe he was working at. i suppose it was fate because that was really the first serious manifestation of the jezabels, with the four of us.

poxymash: where does this thundery, dark and epic quality come from!?

sam: i think it comes from each of us in a different way. from the start we were doing the post-rock thing. but yeah our producer lachlan mitchell loves expansive sounds and big drums so i think he has something to do with it too. he is in a black metal band so that's maybe a place of inspiration. we feel quite free when we write in that we sort of let the songs build to where we think they can get to. it's all about big crescendos for us i think!

poxymash: you've mentioned writers block in the past, how do you overcome it?

sam: we've been pressed pretty hard every time we write so i think that has allowed us to avoid any serious writers block. when you have to write in a given time, the pressure helps i think. because the four of us write together, it helps in that when one of us isn't firing, one of the others will step in and offer a new direction for the song to take.

poxymash: how have you found playing europe different from australia?

sam: certainly - but also not really. there are the obvious differences in culture and language, but it's actually quite uncanny how similar everywhere in the world is these days. we speak english, and that's now fine anywhere you go. the people who come to our shows are from a similar group as well - just nice people. i guess the main difference is the scale of possibility that exists over there. you can tour and tour in europe which is very exciting.

poxymash: what do you hate most about touring?

sam: i hate it when shows aren't going so well. it's a personal thing for sure - i had a run of shows last tour through europe and my amps were sounding crappy and we were playing new songs that weren't quite right yet. everyone said the shows were great but i was having a real hard time. i actually had a little freak out after our paris show and had to go home. but these things come and go and i think most of the time it's to do with your personal psychology. but that's what i hate about touring. the awesome highs and deep troughs. it's a constant battle.

poxymash: does the band have a philosophy it goes by?

sam: we've acknowledged between the four of us that we never want to get too caught up in all of this. it's a bit of a cliche but we do always want to be grounded. that helps in many ways but yeah i think it has helped us heaps so far. we get along better; we don't take positives to seriously, which means the negatives don't hurt so much. so i guess the motto would be along the lines of: 'don't take yourself too seriously. you're just in a little rock band.'

poxymash: have you any words of wisdom you would like to bestow upon your fans?

sam: if you want to do anything, just be crazily stubborn and keep on trying to do it. it took us a long time to get here and we could have stopped at so many points in time.

the jezabels live at heaven, london- tuesday 29^th november

for tickets visit: http://www.livenation.co.uk/artist/the-jezabels-tickets

[aine herlihy]

if guy fawkes was alive last night he'd have blown up goldman sachs...

occupy protests, starting in wall street, have been sweeping the globe, with protesters in london now looking to stay on until christmas to question western capitalism and financial power (whether or not they are also occupying their tents throughout the night is however, a different question).

the idea that a tight network of banks and corporations control the world may have the whiff of a conspiracy theory, however, a recent study has revealed that infact a small group of companies do indeed have a disproportionate influence on the global economy.

a trio of systems analysts at the swiss federal institute of technology in zurich mapped the ownership between 43,000 transnational companies, revealing a tight-knit group of 147 companies, predominantly banks, controlling 40% of the wealth of the entire network.

perhaps maverick financial trader alessio rastani wasn’t so far off the mark when he proclaimed that “governments don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world” in his almost comical interview on the BBC earlier this year.

to read more, visit: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed--the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html

[callum dickson] 

look at this rad thing we found #3

los alamos national laboratory: scientists study nuclear explosions using 3d simulations. the hail from a long tradition of nuclear research which has resulted in the invention of the atomic and hydrogen bombs. obviously this is not the radness we're referring to, poxymash is distinctly anti-bombs of all kinds (apart from sherbert bombs). we sometimes just like looking at things that make no sense to us.

[taken from the ever-distracting national geographic photograph of the day]

[photograph by lynn johnson, national geographic, from the book visions of earth]

moins cher, plus chic: in which gussy seeks out the look for less.

so, i was at work yesterday, pretending to be busy being a product copywriter for a london department store.

all of a sudden, some versace homewares landed on my desk. (they didn't land on my desk, obviously. i had to go to the shelf and pick them up: they are versace homewares, not a ufo, or some sort of human-bearing spacecraft that would require a landing area. or a helicopter. to summarise, homewares ≠ airborne entities).

in any case, being a copywriter, it was my job to write about them. i won't bore you with the details, suffice to say they were artfully decorated with a baroque-inspired print that was rather fetching, in a vulgar kind of way (come on, it's versace. if you want tasteful, try ralph lauren). so when i stumbled across motel's little gem of a dress, the synchronicity was too much to ignore.

i can hear you say, gussy, seriously, what am i going to do with a dress like that? why can't you post something sensible, like a mac, or something about home and contents insurance? (in fact, you can find a delightful mac here. as far as the insurance is concerned, i say we wing it for just a little bit longer).

anyway, fact is, this dress is incredibly versatile, and to prove it to you, i've provided a line-up of four shoe possibilities from the ever-so-fabulous sam edelman (dress win means shoe splurge). let me talk you through them:

1. the grey peyton pump: ever so ladylike, and perfect for day. why do we like them? grey is the perfect foil to yellow's brash tendencies, and the triple strap adds just a little bit of costume drama.

2. the black roza studded pump: studs = cool. sid vicious knew it, i know it, and you definitely know it. best that these babies only come out at night, otherwise who knows what mischief will ensue.

3. the zoe boot, with amazo quilted detailing: i just like these ones, really. plus the beige panelling on the sides will really bring out the warmth of the yellow. promise.

4. the yellow javi wedge: go on, just go all out. life is gloomy enough as it is, with london's bastard weather, why make it even more monochrome? in fact, i bet you'll have people on the underground coming up and thanking you for brightening their day. be gracious with your thanks, but ascertain them for crazy eyes tendencies before proceeding any further.

so there you have it: i'm not going to go into outerwear and other accessories, i'll be here all night. plus, the shoes are the main hurdle, so you should have no problems from here on in.

and remember, keeping watching the skies.

[buy motel's ellis dress here]

trophy wife interview.

after releasing their acclaimed debut single microlite in november 2010, trophy wife played a succession of successful support slots for the foals and bombay bicycle club. comprising of jody prewett (vocals, guitar, bass), ben rimmer (keyboard) and kit monteith (drums), the band describe their music as "ambitionless office disco- just because we like the sound of the words together”. we like to think of their sound as subtly disarming, minimalistic indie, just because, you know, we like the sound of the words together.

poxymash caught up with this dynamic trio and had intended to discuss gadaffi and al la carte communism. instead, we settled for discussions on nigella lawson and stationary. stuff the guardian wouldn’t be covering.

on single handedly plummeting cereal sales in their microlite video: we worked very closely with this guy called joseph kiers. he’s amazing, he has a brilliant mind and we gave him a few ideas to work with and he came back with the concept- the idea of this journey through someone’s heart attack. we just loved it and thought it worked so well. he’s very in tune with what we are trying to do so it all came together quite quickly . we like the idea of it being about another journey and it never really gets completed in a sense and we liked the idea of the finality of the heart attack.

on the name of a thing is not the thing itself: the name was just kicking around for a while. we just liked the two words together ! the name really came when kit showed us some of his photography and we were coming up with band art work. we had some photos of slightly desolate locations, so we pasted the words trophy wife on them and we just really liked how they came out.

on their next big thing status: really!? we try not to concern ourselves with that- but we like it really! we like how quick people have responded to our music. it’s what any band wants isn’t it?

on the oxford influence (the boys are part of the blessing force movement): we spent time away at university, but we lived in oxford for a long time. so ya, it’s where we really formed. there’s a lot of really good music acts coming from there, especially at the moment. but in terms of an oxford sound as such, i don’t think it exits. but obviously the foals have influenced us. it was quite a big deal for us, so early on to play a support slot with the foals.

on their uniqueness: our sex appeal!! na, our hand made drums! we have a drum kit which is one of its kind, which we made from scratch!

on ambitionless office jobs: our jobs have been alright. me (kit) and jody worked in primary schools. ben worked in sales in a stationary shop. he learnt a lot about pens and all the different types that can exist during that time. (ben commences listing every variation of pen he knows).

on their ideal trophy wife: margaret thatcher or…nigella, ya nigella lawson, definitely (all agree democratically). we haven’t been asked that question enough actually . that’s only the second time I think and i can’t remember who we said the first time. but i think nigella was probably in there.

on misty water coloured memories: holding the seven inch in our hands (cue digression into penis talk and protest of sizes!) was special. oh and seeing the video! there have been lots of highlights along the way that looking back probably seem quite small now. also getting a massive case made for the drum kit was a highlight!

on retiring to the countryside: there’s no race to be rock stars, we don’t think like that.it’s just more about fulfilling ourselves as musicians . we are more in this constant development. since we started there’s been points we have worked towards and been excited about that . each stage along the way has been just as satisfying, in different ways . so hopefully it will always just be like that. we will just always have something to work toward, so NEVER, NEVER! you set yourself up for a fall in you are just in it for that idea of stardom.

on aural appreciation: we are currently listening to twin shadow, aerial pink, fleetwood mac, stuff by the shadows and pirate radio station.

the 31^st of october saw the realease of their latest track ‘wolf’

with the video being produced by yannis philippakis (foals)

[aine herlihy]

of or pertaining to the spray can...

nocturnal : “of or pertaining to the night; that space in the heavens which the sun, moon, or stars run thro’ from their rising to their setting”

tonight sees the launch of british urban stencil artist snik's first solo show 'nocturnal' at the gallery, red church street, shoreditch.

snik describes his work as "i am a stencil artist. i cut stencils. i paint them once i’ve cut them. then i’ll cut some more, and paint those too. once i’ve done this, i’ll upload the pictures and process here. i’m nice like that!"

in 2004 the artist travelled to australia where he chanced upon a book that would forever alter his path "i picked up a book called 'stencil graffiti capital melbourne' and without sounding too cliche, it changed everything for me. the energy the scene had at that time was insane, people were out all night painting everywhere they could. i knew i had to get in on it. i'd done stencils before so i knew the basics but the level people were at; size, layers, details, was insane. i started cutting all night, spraying up my pieces whenever i could and with every piece i got a bit more obsessed. over the years i did local shows, local walls, then shows a little further away, and each wall a little bigger.  the real fun of what i do comes when i paint wall's, canvas's have their place, but the real buzz comes from walking away from a wall knowing you've nailed it."

we recommend you stencil his exhibtion into your diary!

to see more of snik's art work go to : http://www.visualdirt.co.uk/index.php?component=content&view=index&page=1

or visit the gallery for more details : http://www.galleryinredchurchstreet.co.uk/

[aine herlihy]