SAMOANS

We’ve almost finished work on our first music video for...

Mon, 27 May 2013 11:22:00 -0400

We’ve almost finished work on our first music video for our next single ‘Antlers’. We made the decision not to ‘play’ in this video as we find videos like that creatively restrictive (which is just another way of saying we just wanted to dick about wearing animal masks).

Our friend Michael Partridge is filming the video for us and I suspect he is having more fun than us, as it involves a lot of people abusing me throughout, including one of our favourite people Ashli Todd at Spillers Records dressed as an eagle.

We’ll keep you posted on when the single/video will be available. For now enjoy this image (in a non-sexual way).

We’re really excited to announce that we will have our...

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:06:00 -0500

We’re really excited to announce that we will have our first ever Record Store Day Release this year thanks to Transgressive Records and Jen Long at Kissability.

The release is entitled ‘First Kiss’ and will come on limited white label vinyl, kissed and stamped with kissability logo.

Tracklist:

01. DZ Deathrays - The Mess Up
02. Cut Ribbons - White Horses
03. Deaf Club - Sunday
04. Samoans - Catamaran
05. Fever Fever - The Chair
06. Splashh - The 15th
07. Among Brothers - Keep
08. Without Maps - Naked Light
09. Death At Sea - Drag
10. Thumpers - Velveteen

You can listen to the tracks on the release, via the soundcloud link below.

https://soundcloud.com/transgressive-records/sets/kissability-first-kiss-12

So we recently Started work on our album with Todd Campbell at...

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 06:46:00 -0500

So we recently Started work on our album with Todd Campbell at Skwad HQ. We can’t gig due to my back injury but we’re putting all our effort in to working on the new record. We’re really excited by the new material!

We’ve recorded our next single, entitled ‘Antlers’, and will keep you posted on its release date/format in the near future.

The new record doesn’t currently have a working title but it does have a theme which has allowed us to experiment a lot more with ideas and sounds musically and vocally.

We will be testing out some of the new material in some of our upcoming shows in March and April, so be sure to keep an eye on our Live page for the latest dates.

We can’t wait to start playing live again after the frustration of being out of action for so long with my fractured spine.

See you guys soon!

D x

jenlong: And Thumpers makes it 10. Kissability back-catalogue...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:49:38 -0500

jenlong:

And Thumpers makes it 10. Kissability back-catalogue <3

Kissability love-in!

tab·la·ture [tab-luh-cher,...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 07:40:00 -0500

tab·la·ture [tab-luh-cher, -choo r]

noun

1. Music. any of various systems of music notation using letters, numbers,

or other signs to indicate thestrings, frets, keys, etc., to be played.

2. a tabular space, surface, or structure.

So we’d thought we’d do something a bit different to a new year release and give something away for free to our fans.

We’ve had a few requests over the past few years to tab some of our songs and now that I seem to have a considerable amount of free time due to my fractured spine, I thought it’d be a good time to finally do this.

Each week we will post up a guitar tab in a shared dropbox folder, which you’ll be able to download as a pdf and includes a step by step guide on how to play each song (and obviously won’t look as crap as my handwritten versions!). The first song we have chosen to tab is San Marino 1994 and is available now.

If you’re interested in signing up to the Samoans Tab Club or have a specific song you’d like to play then message us at wearesamoans@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Dan x

Samoans Live at The BBC 18/12/12

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:49:02 -0500

If you missed our BBC Radio Wales live session last night on Bethan Elfyn’s show then you can listen again here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t2f6s

We recorded exclusive live versions of Secret Sixth, Catamaran, our forthcoming single Antlers and old favourite Brothers/Blisters.

Hope you guys enjoy the session as much as we did recording it!

Samoans

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:06:58 -0500

Samoans:

Finally up on Spotify! Get on it!

BBC Live Session 18/12/12 (photos by Simon Ayre)

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:35:00 -0500

BBC Live Session 18/12/12 (photos by Simon Ayre)

Dan has for the past few months been working on a new project,...

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 16:35:00 -0500

Dan has for the past few months been working on a new project, entitled Moken Operetta with established house DJ Tom Ellis.

The duo have been writing an album and are making steady progress. It’s an extreme departure from the sound of Samoans, but if anyone has ever had the chance to listen to Dan’s earlier offerings as Analog_In then you’ll probably see this as a natural progression.

There’s exciting prospects on the horizons in 2013. For now you can listen to some demos on their Soundcloud page https://soundcloud.com/moken-operetta

Let us know what you think of Dan’s new direction!

Kissability: Happy New Year from Kissability.

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 16:28:13 -0500

Kissability: Happy New Year from Kissability. :

clubkissability:

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.

This time 12 months ago we were pretty new with just two releases under our belt (DZ Deathrays’ Ruined My Life EP, and Cut Ribbons single, White Horses).

Now we’re gearing up to hit double digits in 2013 with our TENTH release due on Feb 4th. It’s from the very…

If you didn’t manage to pre-order our EP online, then you...

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 08:59:02 -0500

If you didn’t manage to pre-order our EP online, then you may have missed out on this exclusive covers EP. Well, we’ve now made it available for download at our bandcamp!

Merry Christmas!

Listen/download here: Samoans Covers EP

A cover of Reuben’s ‘Christmas is Awesome’....

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 09:44:49 -0500

A cover of Reuben’s ‘Christmas is Awesome’. Nuff said.

Merry Christmas from Samoans! We hope all you guys have a great...

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 09:34:52 -0500

Merry Christmas from Samoans!

We hope all you guys have a great Christmas, we’ve had an amazing 2012. Chris joining the band, touring, playing Reading & Leeds and SWN Festival, releasing our debut EP and recording a live session for long-standing supporter, Bethan Elfyn’s BBC Radio Wales programme have all been highlights. Let’s hope 2013 is even better!

It pains me to say this but I’m writing this whilst in a back brace. I got hit by a car cycling to my job on Wednesday morning and have fractured my T12 thoracic vertebrae. I’m ok, but I may be out of action for a couple of months. I’m just glad to be alive! I can’t wait to be healed and start work on our new record. We’ll keep you posted on mine and the band’s progress.

Much love and appreciation, be excellent to each other and party on!

Dan, Calvin and Chris.

We’ve got some UK dates coming including this headline...

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:39:00 -0500

We’ve got some UK dates coming including this headline show in Manchester and 2 dates supporting Native in Sheffield and Cardiff! We can’t wait to get on the road and play!

Check our live page for more dates!

Nice words about Elevated Reflections

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:07:09 -0500

So since releasing our debut EP ‘Elevated Reflections’ we’ve been overwhelmed with the response. It has literally been flying out of our merch store, at Spillers Records in Cardiff and on tour.

We’ve had some nice reviews too. We thought it’d be nice to post them up here if you fancy reading them at all.

PUNKTASTIC -

Noodly math-rock bands may seem to be ten-a-penny nowadays, but this is a real breath of fresh air. Despite hailing from the same country as the stratosphere-scraping pop stylings of Lostprophets and Kids In Glass Houses, Welsh three-piece Samoans have unleashed a debut EP that’s miles away stylistically. The band are fresh from appearing on the BBC Introducing stage at this year’s Reading and Leeds Festival, and rather than the bombastic big choruses of their countrymen, they take a considered and meticulous approach to songwriting – it makes them dynamic and kinetic, constantly changing pace.

Their forebears have left their mark all over this work, and yet this feels effortlessly original and exciting. Second track “Acrobat”, for instance, has shades of the much-missed Meet Me In St Louis’ magnum-opus ‘Variations On Swing‘, with its swaying riff never letting go as it whirls around your ears. ‘Catamaran‘ puts you in the mind of ‘Infinity Land‘-era Biffy Clyro, the tried and tested loud-quiet-LOUD formula working wonders, powered on by a terrifying bout of goatskin-punishing from drummer Chris Rouse (also of Surrey rockers Hold Your Horse Is).

Finale ‘San Marino 1994‘ really gives them the chance to spread their wings and show their colours. Unrelenting riffs are layered on thick and fast, making for an epic finish in which singer Dan Barnett really soars, proclaiming that “you are so beautiful on fire“. A markedly heavier departure from their earlier offerings, it’s something different from the Valleys and a cracking effort from a band that really should be on your radar – this rocks out and intrigues in equal measures.

ZERO CORE -

The Western Samoan Rugby Team visited my primary school during the 1991 Rugby World Cup. They threw balls around. They posed for photographs. They signed autographs. One of the players wrote down his hotel room number on a piece of paper for my friend Joel. Coming before noncing’s glory days in the tabloids, our ten year old selves were unaware of the potential implications. Gary Glitter was still just a glam rocker. We’d probably have been in his gang, depending on what sweets he had. Like Joel, Cardiff-based three-piece Samoans are sexy kids.

EP opener ‘Super Vapour Trail Sunrise’ comes over like a screamo Simple Minds. If Patsy Kensit’s single these days, one of the boys could definitely follow Jim Kerr’s lead and take her up the ailse, so to speak.

Next track ‘Acrobat’ is half hooks and guts, half introspective shoegaze. ‘Catamaran’ is like that girlfriend you used to have: nice-sexy-nice-sexy-SHOUTY-nice-sexy. Remember her? Instrumental interlude ‘Elevated Reflections’ is just that. Unlike Stuart Pearce in San Marino 1993, ‘San Marino 1994’ is all about control. Clipped emotions on lost love, or the death of Ayrton Senna. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Stellar stuff all round on these five tracks, which is what you’d expect on a release from Taff taste-makers Barely Regal. It’ll be interesting to see how the band use the space of a long player to develop their sound. Unlike the Western Samoan flanker, if Samoans ask you back to their hotel room, you should go. #YOLO etc.

Music Liberation -

Samoans are a three-piece from Cardiff in Wales that have been on my personal radar since 2009-ish when I caught them playing the infamous Clwb Ifor Bach in the Welsh capital. Their style of math-rock inspired guitar music caught my attention straight away and I’ve been following them ever since.

It has been somewhat of a wait then until ‘Elevated Reflections’, their debut EP to come out, however the wait has been more than worth it. Frontman Dan Barnett is not only a decent singer with a great vocal range, but also an excellent guitar player, with his riffs and fret tapping (if that’s the right phrase…) being hard to not get transfixed by. The music is melodic, heavy in parts, but also tender too, with the standout track being ‘Catamaran’.

Having recently played the Introducing Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festival, Samoans are hopefully poised for bigger and better things to come in the future, starting with the release of this strong EP, which is out now through Barely Regal Records.

Shout For Music -

‘Elevated Reflections’ is the debut EP from Cardiff-based math-rock trio Samoans. Samoans have opted for a more intricate and melodic approach to their music, rather than opting for big choruses unlike their Welsh alt-rock counterparts in the likes of Kids In Glass Houses and Lostprophets. Opener ‘Super Vapour Trail Sunrise’ starts as a flurry of instruments before cutting into a well-crafted section of intricate guitar and drum work, before switching pace again into a fierce and aggressive section – an unpredictable yet beautifully structured track as a whole. Previously released as a cassette single, ‘Catamaran’ is another track which pulls the carpet from under your feet: starting as a mellow and melodic number, it sporadically enters into distorted mayhem accompanied by a powerful growling vocal. The penultimate and title track ‘Elevated Reflections’ serves as a reprise, featuring the melody from ‘Super Vapour…’, into final track ‘San Marino 1994’, which is itself yet another slice of math-rock brilliance, with intricate guitar melodies played against unrelenting drum rhythms, as well as featuring a mellow hidden track. Overall, this is strong debut EP, demonstrating that Samoans have all but mastered their genre and are capable of writing fantastic material, full of dynamics and melodies.

The year so far has definitely been a good one for us and...

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 14:54:33 -0400

The year so far has definitely been a good one for us and playing Swn Festival for the third consecutive year was a real honour.

I was genuinely in shock at the turn out on Sunday in Cardiff. The support you guys have given us is extremely overwhelming and we’re so glad that we get to play such awesome shows!

We got to see some old friends, Without Maps, doing what they do best and make some new friends in Falls, who are a band from Deeside, North Wales. The thing I love about Swn Festival is that you get to see bands you’ve never heard of, or had the chance of seeing previously, but most importantly it gives me a real sense of community, being part of a music scene made up of so many incredibly talented musicians like Kutosis, Islet, Exit International and Among Brothers.

I have spoken to a lot of bands from outside Cardiff who have played Swn over the last few years and almost everyone always mentions the community spirit between bands based in the city and how they envy that. It makes me proud to be part of that but also concerned that there are a lot of places around the UK where that kind of mutual support does not exist. Swn is setting a great example of how community creates creativity.

D x

We have a highly limited amount of these t-shirts available at...

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:02:11 -0400

We have a highly limited amount of these t-shirts available at our bigcartel.

Designed last Friday and then screen printed on Sunday by myself at Printhaus, Cardiff.

The design is taken from one of my favourite tv shows, Seinfeld. Click the image to visit our store.

D x

Samoans at Reading & Leeds Festival 2012 part II Photos by...

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 16:36:00 -0400

Samoans at Reading & Leeds Festival 2012 part II

Photos by Simon Ayre

Samoans at Reading & Leeds Festival 2012 part I Photos by...

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 16:15:00 -0400

Samoans at Reading & Leeds Festival 2012 part I

Photos by Simon Ayre

Samoans 2012 - Daniel Barnett, Chris Rouse, Calvin Ley. Photos...

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 16:07:00 -0400

Samoans 2012 - Daniel Barnett, Chris Rouse, Calvin Ley.

Photos by Simon Ayre.