"MINDBLANK" IS OUT TODAY!

TRIM THE BARBER - MINDBLANK

OUT NOW

Greetings all,

The video for our new single "MINDBLANK" has been live for the past few weeks, it's been getting a good response from blogs such as Sound of Confusion, Mojophenia and Vulture Hound amongst others. The song was also 'Track of the Week' on the Amazing Radio Rock Show in January and will be digitally released worldwide as of today on:

Bandcamp (pay what you want)  |  Amazon  |  iTunes  |  Rhapsody  |  Deezer  |  Spotify + most other digital stores.

To celebrate the release we are also making "REALITY" a free download from our Bandcamp, for a limited time only: http://bit.ly/ZPlW3f

Matthew Potter - bass + vocals. Ramsay Cooper - guitar + vocals. Patrick Banks - guitar. Jonas Duus - drums + percussion. All music by Trim the Barber. Lyrics by Matthew Potter. Produced by Trim the Barber. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Patrick Banks and Barry Hoffman of Soundyoucansee. Cover art by Andrew Shields. Video produced by Trim the Barber. Shot by Ross Cooper. Edited by Matthew Potter. Thanks to Theo PR, Dominic Lane, James Coyle, Elyssa Iona and "Kenneth".

Tour dates to be added soon...

TRIM THE BARBER X

Mindblank review on Mojophenia

Thanks to Andy from Mojophenia for this "Mindblank" review:

Read here: http://mojophenia.com/2013/02/27/trim-the-barber-mindblank/

"Reassuringly ferocious Post-Punk arriving on a wave of searing audio intensity, Trim the Barber pops and gurgles through an unforgiving barrage of crunching multi-effects – ‘Mindblank’ is a layered marvel, modern psychedelia gravitating towards a semi-improvisational wall of 8o`s Shoegaze. We grabbed an extended listen to the debut EP last year citing a template of early Cure or pseudo-pop Bauhaus influences. Mindblank feels indelibly colder, almost allowing itself to mark an imaginary focus point between retrospective analogue and a cosy digital slumber – A highly pertinent drum roar pulls rhythmic rank and all hell breaks loose, thank God for six string trailblazers and Post- Industrial significance."

Posted by Andy on February 27th, 2013

Mindblank review on Vulture Hound

Thanks to Becca Jones for reviewing "Mindblank" for Vulture Hound:

Read here: http://vulturehound.co.uk/2013/02/mindblank-trim-the-barber-single-review/

"Technically delicious and fantastically dark, ‘Mindblank’ is the new release from East London post-punk 4piece, Trim the Barber. They combine bleak, melodic dark punk stylings with a truly unnerving music video to create one hell of a track.

It’s easy to get lost in ‘Mindblank’, as the vocals are otherworldly, fading back into and nearly buried by the  pounding bass and enticing drums. There’s a deep, blood red feel there that brings to mind the blacker days of Depeche Mode, but with a more psychedelic feel. Difficult to sum up, the listener is transported to a sinister, teeming place that they just don’t want to leave.

The video is equally traumatic – a melting wax head in an isolated garden, slowly changing from solid, twisted features to a puddle of viscous looking goo. Connecting with the major lyric ‘erase the faces’, the head seems to represent the journey of the song. As with the music, the video fascinates and discomforts at the same time. Whilst the progress of the melting face is disturbing, it’s impossible to look away.

A masterful, addictive track then, doing a brilliant job as a follow up release. Trim the Barber uncovered their début, self titled EP in 2012 to huge reviews, packed tours and global radio plays. Will the sudden glare of success weaken their music or scare them from pushing at the edges? ‘Mindblank’ is their answer – a roaring, unyielding NO.

‘Mindblank’ will be released on 1^st March 2013. Follow Trim the Barber at http://trimthebarber.blogspot.co.uk/"

Single review by Becca Jones at Vulture Hound
Mon 18th Feb 2013

Handclap Movement Review

Long Island based happy clappers Handclap Movement have reviewed our new single, despite the distinct lack of handclaps in the song!

Read here: http://handclapmovement.com/post/42829636348/hackney-based-post-punk-group-trim-the-barber-have

"Hackney-based post-punk group TRIM THE BARBER have unveiled the video for their latest single “Mindblank”. The video, which plays out like an art installation, is really ideal since all this darkly guitar shredding would melt anyone’s face off. The song gets to explore some of it’s psychedelic and shoegaze influences as it ventures off into a impenetrable wall of glorious sound. Watch below.

http://youtu.be/moWoIgjnW9w

The single will be out March 1st."  

Future Sound Share Playlist

"Mindblank" is on the Future Sound Share February playlist: http://www.futuresoundshare.com/playlists/Feb%202013%20Playlist 

The Sound Of Confusion: 'Mindblank' Single Review

Thanks to The Sound Of Confusion for writing this piece on our forthcoming single:

Read here: http://thesoundofconfusionblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/trim-barber-mindblank.html

"First off, a bit of an introduction for those who missed Trim The Barber's debut EP last year. This quartet from London have taken the lead from the new wave of psychedelic bands currently making inroads into the mainstream and pushed the sound into a more post-punk and shoegaze direction, perhaps preventing their music from falling into the same old comparison traps. They've done this without obscurity or being abstract; they've done this by writing quality tunes, and tunes that have the potential to make similar inroads. They're left-field for sure, but as guitar music swings more towards that direction the sound they make could be perfect to bridge the gap between fans of more unsung music and those beginning to investigate further behind the door opened by Tame Impala, The Horrors and so on.

Follow-up single 'Mindblank' might arrive a little too early into their career to break them in any big way, but it puts down a marker; it writes their name on the musical map and it will turn a few more heads and pick up more exposure than the debut. So if they have strong enough material in reserve we could be looking at Trim The Barber being a much better known name by the end of the year. With this kind of thing word-of-mouth is likely to play a big part. The song itself is definitely strong; you can pick some 60s psych heroes, add your favourite post-punk band, give a quick mention to the noisier end of shoegaze and then mention the modern wave of sonic adventurers to describe the sound, but it's best to just listen to it, you'll spot the potential. Oh, and check out the face-melting video too." 

Pre-order the single

Single Review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk
Tuesday 22nd January 2013

DrunkenWerewolf's Video Bonanza: ft Bloc Party, Trim the Barber...

Our new video for 'Mindblank' is featured in DrunkenWerewolf Magazine's Video Bonanza roundup:  

"First up London post-punk quartet Trim the Barber unleash “Mindblank”, mixing monotone vocals with Rolo Tomassi style riffs and a crying iceman. The single was debuted last week on Amazing Radio and is due out March 1st."

Read the full post here: http://www.drunkenwerewolf.com/2013/01/21/video-bonanza-ft-bloc-party-trim-the-barber-harry-george-johns-doldrums-kandle-and-more/

New single on Amazing Radio as Track of the Week!

Evening all, just letting you know our new single 'Mindblank' will be aired for the first time on Amazing Radio tonight sometime between 8 and 9pm on the Rock Show and repeated on Tuesday at 10pm.

Check out the playlist here: http://amazingradio.co.uk/?show=rockshow

Aaron also made it the Amazing Rock Show 'Track of the Week' so it will be on next weeks show too!

NEW SINGLE "MINDBLANK" OUT 1ST MARCH, Stream video and song now.

After a period of incubation we have emerged from our chrysalis to present you with this, our dank and festering butterfly...

Hope to see you at a show in 2013.  

Bad Vibrations 'Live Bands of 2012'

Thanks to the awesome BAD VIBRATIONS for including us in their 'Live bands of 2012' playlist: https://soundcloud.com/badvibesuk/sets/badvibrationslive2012

MUSIC LIBERATION - TOP 10 EP'S OF 2012

We are placed at #10 in the top 10 EP's of 2012 by Music Liberation.

http://musicliberation.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/music-liberation-top-10-eps-of-2012.html

...On The Rock Show

TODAY: we're on the 'Amazing Rock Show' at 8pm (repeated Tuesday at 10pm) AND on the 'Audition' show at 4pm. Both on the aptly named Amazing Radio.

http://amazingradio.co.uk/?show=rockshow  

The Audition Show on Amazing Radio

"It recalls some of the moments that you first heard and fell in love with a Black Angels album all those years ago. Slightly spooky, slightly haunting, and yet an absolute cacophony of noise to lure you in and draw you in under their spell" 

- Charlie Ashcroft, Amazing Radio, 22/10/12.

Some kind words there about our song "Reality" which got it's first radio play on Monday! - you can stream the show here, or listen to the repeat on Saturday. x

http://amazingradio.co.uk/?show=audition

by Elyssa Iona

"REALITY" on Amazing Radio

"REALITY" is being played by Charlie Ashcroft today from 1-3 (6 songs in) on Amazing Radio. The first radio play of this song!

- If you like it then please take a second to vote for us in the 'Audition Poll' via this link: http://amazingradio.co.uk/?show=audition

Thanks x

"Occupation" Video Shoot Blog by Soundyoucansee

A blog about the "Occupation" video shoot by one of it's makers Barry Hoffman of Soundyoucansee.

Read Here: http://soundyoucansee.com/trim-the-barber/

"This is what you get for locking yourself away on a beautiful sunny day in the depths of Stoke Newington’s Audio Underground rehearsal rooms with Trim the Barber. We had four hours with Hackney’s most exciting band right now to get in, get set up, record and film a live performance of ‘Occupation’ to coincide with the release of their debut ep.

Having nearly doomed the whole affair by blowing up half the room when trying their new strobe light we managed to get everything plugged in and loud enough to cope with Jonus’ heavy hitting.

These guys have been developing these songs for a while now and having started gigging heavily again, they know how to play. Every one of the six or seven takes was impressive and demonstrated to us why this band are getting all the attention they rightly deserve in the music press right now.

This tune has a simmering and serious urgency to it and breaks plenty of the traditional ‘rules’ for a lead track on an album. That’s why we love these guys, they have a way of doing things all their own and to our ears are quite defiantly defining a unique sound for themselves. It’s a track soaked in shimmering layers of guitar noise and a delay-laden vocal that doesn’t start until half way in; it rewards repeated listening with new details revealing themselves each time but also has an immediate and powerful impact on first listen. We love it! Make sure you catch them live."

REWORK LONDON @ VISIONS - 30th AUGUST

http://www.facebook.com/events/387569967964681/

Cancelled Gig & Other News...

THURSDAYS GIG HAS BEEN CANCELLED due to unforeseen problems with the organisers and venue, we're really sorry about that.

BUT we have just confirmed a show at The Finsbury on Saturday 13th October, and next up we are playing Visions Video Bar, one month away on Thursday 30th August.

Stay tuned on our Facebook, here on our website and on Twitter for news about our new single which is out soon, and meanwhile if you haven't got our debut EP yet, get it here: http://trimthebarber.bandcamp.com/album/trim-the-barber-ep

Trim the Barber in WARP Magazine

Thanks to Javier Cuellar Somellera for writing a blog post about us for a Mexican Music Publication called WARP in the 'Bands You Need To Know' column.

(It's written in Spanish but you can translate the page, or read below)

Read here: http://www.warp.com.mx/editorial/23307-BandsYouNeedToKnow-Echo-Lake-y-Trim-The-Barber

"It seems I have transported to Macclesfield, England where the legend of one of the most important movements in the history of music was born, Ian Curtis who was the leader of Joy Division, a band that influenced many others to be who they are today and appreciate much.

Trim The Barber is a band from East London with a proposal for post-punk, psychedelic and shoegaze, mixing well the melancholy of the Cure, the grunting of Wire and sonic attitude Bury Strangers A place to.

Ian Curtis quoted as Matthew Potter's voice reminds me of him. Energetic and heartbreaking, really you can feel melancholy. Ramsay Cooper on guitars and vocals, Patrick Banks on second guitar, voice and third engineer and finally Jonas Duss on drums and percussion are the complete lineup of the band who took their eponymous debut album last April.

We can listen to seven tracks starting with 'Occupation'. It's really powerful, dark, very English. A proposal brit for everyone, I am sure Trim The Baber not disappoint from start to finish."

- Javier Cuellar Somellera, 17th July 2012.

Trim the Barber on RADIOZONDERMIDDENRIF Podcast

Thanks to Leon Riether who included "Occupation" in his latest RadioZonderMiddenrif podcast (with new music by Savages, DIIV, Gravenhurst, dEUS, Fidlar and many others)

Listen here: http://radiozondermiddenrif.podbean.com/2012/07/17/part-24/

The Telescopes, Lola Colt & Trim the Barber @ The Macbeth

(10:15) THE TELESCOPES

(9:15) LOLA COLT

(8:30) TRIM THE BARBER

http://on.fb.me/MmAgI8

"Occupation" on ABSOLUTE RADIO

Frank Skinner played "Occupation" on his Absolute Radio show on Saturday 2nd June!

Listen here: http://www.mixcloud.com/frankskinner/frank-on-absolute-radio-02june2012/ 

Trim the Barber on XFM EXPOSURE

We were played on XFM Exposure with John Kennedy again on 21st May, the third time he's given Trim the Barber a spin!

http://www.xfm.co.uk/onair/shows/xposure/xposure-playlist

Trim the Barber on NME RADIO

On 18^th May "Occupation" was given a spin on NME Radio on The Selector show (Fridays 1800-2000) Presented by Goldierocks and syndicated to 33 countries around the world with an estimated global reach is in excess of 4 million listeners!

Stream the show here: http://soundcloud.com/britishcouncil/563-selector

Trim the Barber on Q RADIO

Tonight between 7-9pm on Q RADIO, Caroline Beavon will be playing 'Occupation' on the 'NEW TO Q' show.

Listen here: http://radioplayer.qthemusic.com/

EP review by OLIVER ARDITI

Read here: http://oliverarditi.com/2012/04/26/various-artists-singles-and-eps-013/

Trim The Barber – Trim The Barber (post-punk)

self released, 2012, CD and DD EP, 17m 17s

£2.50 (DD) £4 (CD numbered edition of 100)

By Oliver Arditi, 26th April 2012

Apart from earning major kudos by naming their band after a stand out track from the founding father of dub, Trim The Barber have a thing or two to say about making atmospheric and texturally creative post-punk music. At this stage in proceedings it’s probably a bit late to call this stuff ‘New Wave’, but it certainly harks back to that historical sound of the future, without sounding at all nostalgic or derivative. There was a thing in the immediate post-punk period (coincidentally the period when I first became aware of something called ‘the charts’ or ‘popular music’) where vocalists adopted a deliberate coldness or hollowness to their delivery, declaiming their lyrics like great howls of anomie in the infinite existential darkness. Trim The Barber have that kind of buzz going on, in combination with an effects laden set of textural guitarscapes, also redolent of that era, when players like Robert Smith and Roger Morris sought ways to play more creatively than punk allowed, without resorting to the tired old cock waggling of earlier approaches. What the guitarists do on this release is pretty rocked out in comparison, in keeping with contemporary tastes, but dead creative, firmly supported on an angular gridwork of bass and drums. They claim to fuse post-punk with elements of shoegaze, but the influences I’ve mentioned are where shoegaze came from anyway. These are big, creative, engaging musical journeys, and I was with them all the way.  

Trim the Barber feature in GESTURE MAGAZINE

Pictures from our recent Fierce Panda/Club Fandango gig and an interview with Ramsay:

View using Desktop/Laptop: http://bit.ly/JN9V1S

View using iphone/ipad (PDF): http://bit.ly/JbdS2N

Gesture Magazine | Issue 8

EP review on MOJOPHENIA

Read here: http://mojophenia.com/2012/04/30/east-londons-trim-the-barber-debut-ep-release/

MOJOPHENIA

East London's Trim the Barber, Debut EP Release

Posted by Andy on April 30th 2012

“Trim The Barber are four-piece Psychedelic-Post-Punk-Shoegazers from East London. A Combination of the melancholic style of  The Cure, the spiky snarl of  Wire and the considered sonic attitude of A Place To Bury Strangers. The lush musical euphoria of shoegaze meets the cold atmosphere of minimalist post punk. The  self-titled debut EP was released on April 9th”.

In my eyes an EP is a roaring success if half the content gives me the reason to dig a little deeper into a band’s reason for making music in the first place. Indeed Influences run very true, you’re never going to get those first few iconic chords erased from your head and great melodies are often worn proudly upon a tattered sleeve. The four track EP from Trim The Barber manages the mathematics comfortably with three great tracks on their four track EP release, the spin on melodic indie and heavily layered shoegaze points directly to the post-punk obscurities bands used to cram onto those wobbly 7″ singles thirty something years ago.

Structured guitar noise and controlled fuzz, Trim The Barber build volume in small deliberate steps. The opening track `Occupation` has a killer intro, although the expectation of a squeaky Robert Smith vocal subsequently detracts from the charming reverb and haunting melody, it`s an excellent way to kick off a four track teaser. `Reality` gets the audio exposure above, the welcome attention to detail and straightforward Rock `N Roll annihilation always pays dividends.  

Learn More And Buy
Courtesy Of  Theo PR

Stream our Matt Barnes Indie Show interview

Matt Barnes Indie Show 26th April 2012 by Mattbarnesindieshow on Mixcloud