The Playwrights are a Bristol based band who have been around since 2002.. I picked up their single on I Wish I Was Unpopular titled “Dislocated” earlier this year and was struck on the similarities in sound between them and The Wolfhounds, a pivotal C86 band who recently reformed for their 20th Anniversary.  There were also more than a few hints of The Fall about them as well and that statement can cover both bands. Anyway back to “Dislocated”. It was an excellent track full of fight and passion and it was backed by “The Middle Ages” an incredibly short and furious track.

Sadly like all things I forgot about them until, courtesy of their Guitarists’ label Sink & Stove, the promo of their new mini-album dropped through the door.  Titled English Self Storage” it’s due for release in January 2006 and was a stark reminder of what I’ve been missing. As their label has provided high quality downloads of three of the tracks (which is bloody nice of them), rather than review the album (that will be for a Sounds XP piece) I will concentrate on those three tracks instead.

It’s quite noticeable that the Wolfhounds and Fall influences have seemed to have worn off and in the case of “Dislocated”, not for the better on first listen with the track heading for Bloc Party or even worse Franz Ferdinand territory in it’s London Version guise.

It sounded very over produced compared to the version I’ve grown to love but when reflecting on the track as if it was a first time listen I soon realised how good and how unintentionally poppy it sounded despite the despairing lyrics. The changes were also understandable as the band has expanded and developed their sound. It was the same with the other two tracks with the militaristic “21st Century Kaspar Hauser” edging it with the early 80’s influences via the likes of XTC coming to the fore. Get the Grenadier Uniform out or better still borrow Andy Partridges’!

Summing up The Playwrights are now where the Futureheads should be!!! By expanding on that post punk sound, retaining that oh so essential Englishness and demonstrating that you are not a one trick pony the band should now get the exposure they deserve and based on these tracks that shouldn’t be too far away.

The Playwrights – 21st Century Kaspar Hauser
The Playwrights – Dislocated (London Version)
The Playwrights – Fear Of Open Spaces

Alternatively stream some tracks direct from their My Space page.

The band, who have toured with The National and Mission Of Burma will be playing a free show today (Saturday 8th) at the Sink & Stove Records afternoon at Notting Hill Arts Club. It’s also free entry with the doors opening at 4pm.

They will play at the London Luminaire on the 25th October returning to their native Bristol on the 28th (The Croft). They will also be playing in Manchester but check their site for more details.

The blog, Shake Your Fist, also wrote about The Playwrights in September and yesterday Take Your Medicine also ran an article.


Now, just a word about sensible pricing on the digital download front. The band also have their own music store in association with Simbiotic where you can pick up downloads of their previous singles and album. The prices of the singles which can include up to 4 tracks are £1.50 and you can download them as lossless FLAC files! I mean four FLAC files for £1.50. Good on ‘em I thought and brought the lot. Of course the option to download as mp3 or Ogg Vorbis is also available at the same price but isn’t this a sensible fee to pay with no DRM involved and for lossless files as well! You know where i-tunes, Napster and all the others can stick it don’t you.       

Essential tracks to buy: Dislocated (Bristol Version) Guy Debord Is Really Dead