Pastels-Tenniscoats, Bush Hall

Cult bands from Glasgow and Tokyo join forces

by Joe MuggsTuesday, 08 September 2009

Artists who are naturally awkward in their own skin can go in a number of directions. Many, including a good number of The Pastels' 1980s “C86” indie contemporaries, are content to simply be musically awkward, shambolic and ultimately rather pathetic and self-defeating. Others like, say, Talking Heads' David Byrne, charged with hyperactivity, take their awkwardness to the Nth degree and used it as a drive towards diverse creative explorations.

Explore topics

Share this article

The future of Arts Journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more New music

Album: Panda Bear - Sinister Grift A psychedelic curiosity that’s unlikely to wear anyone’s stylus down

Album: Sam Fender - People Watching The North Shields indie star's third album is a solid, sincere evolution

Album: Basia Bulat - Basia's Palace Canadian singer's seventh album musters dreamy pop that simultaneously arrives and floats away

Josienne Clarke, Across the Evening Sky, Kings Place review - celebrating Sandy Denny The contemporary singer-songwriter holds a torch for the late, great Sandy Denny

Patrick Duff, The Mount Without, Bristol review - sacred music for the soul A dilapidated Bristol church brought back to vibrant life

Album: Tim Hecker - Shards Finessed expressiveness as a compilation of soundtrack work coheres

Music Reissues Weekly: Sharks - Car Crash Supergroup The early Seventies blues rockers admired by prime movers in British punk

Fat Dog, Chalk, Brighton review - a frenetic techno-rock juggernaut The rising London outfit deliver a sweaty Cossack-rave hoedown

Album: Park Jiha - All Living Things Music and nature in synergy

Album: Rizzle Kicks - Competition Is For Losers Brass, beats, and pure fun: the UK has missed this

Album: Fantastic Twins - Suite of Rooms Dramas within dramas and rooms within rooms in this elegant little puzzle box

Northern Winter Beat 2025, Aalborg review - The Courettes, Dungen and Lubomyr Melnyk confront ideas of how to play Danish city hosts the festival imbued with a cool which doesn’t need expressing

Follow @theartsdesk