Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires: Sounds Made By Humans

photo: Simon Robinson

So, if British poet Brian Bilston and indie band The Catenary Wires join forces for an album, will the old adage that the sum is greater than its parts stand up in court? The answer is yes, it bloody well does. Sounds Made By Humans is a record that is filled to the rafters with wit and smart hooks, the words and music playing hide and seek and having a whale of a time together.

Whether it is taking the piss out of the dreaded talk trying to land a new job (The Interview), inserting a bucket load of song titles and lyrics snippets into Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You, the arduous task of picking the right songs for aCompilation Cassette, where the only certainty is that there will be no country & western on it, Bilston and The Catenary Wires always find the right words and music to get the message across. If anything, this is an album that takes pity on the shy wallflowers at a party and people trying to cope with a world that has turned into a shapeshifting, but there is also room for satire. 31 Rules For Midlife Rebellion proclaims "add more syllables to haiku" and "never wear Ramones T-shirts" and: wait for it: "don't listen to songs in the forms of lists".

They are obviously not a fan of technology trying to get the upper hand with providing entertainment, pretending to have all the answers (Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love?) and offering more of the same (Customers Who Bought This Record Also Bought...). As for AI, well, they picked the album's title for a reason. Humanity needs art, not the artificial kind that is rehashing things that already existed and passing it off as new. Thank fuck for the underground, where artists are keeping the flame alive.

strong>Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires:
Brian Bilston: vocal
Ian Button: drums
Amelia Fletcher: vocal
Rob Pursey: vocal, guitars, bass
Fay Hallam: keyboard

Sounds Made By Humans is released via Skep Wax (green vinyl, CD, digital).

Tracks:

1. Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love?
2. The Interview
3. Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You
4. Might Have, Might Not Have
5. To Do List
6. Compilation Cassette
7. Out Of The Rain
8. 31 Rules For Midlife Rebellion
9. As I Grow Old I Will March Not Shuffle
10. She'd Dance
11. My Heart Is A Lump Of Rock
12. Thou Shalt Not Commit Adulting
13. Customers Who Bought This Record Also Bought...

» brianbilston.com
» catenarywiresband.com