The Cellar Family - Jumbo

(Self-released, 2012)

The Cellar Family have quickly made a reputation for themselves as the freakiest gaggle of deviants making music in Oxford and have won themselves a deservedly large number of fans as a result. “In the Garden” immediately sets Jumbo apart from last year's Flab EP – this is the terrifying nightmare to that bizarre daydream. Singer Jamie Harris has clearly lent his inner demons a voice and they've gone on a bit of a bender with it, sounding, at times, like an unhinged, nasal version of the Young Knives' Henry. Elsewhere he makes the kind of sounds you generally only make when you think no-one else is listening. Once again, it's hard to avoid making comparisons to Mclusky, Pixies, the Young Knives et al but there's now more noise a la Liars, Big Black and Shellac to add texture and complexity to the queasy stew. Jumbo is a demented punk-racket gem.

[Originally published in Oxford Music Scene magazine, issue 19]
http://www.oxfordmusicscene.co.uk/images/oms_issue19.pdf

The Cellar Family - Flab

(self-released, 2011)

With rapturous praise of their live shows sweeping the local music media The Cellar Family have certainly proved themselves to be a riotous presence in the flesh but can they translate that sound onto a static recording? Fuck yes. “Oestrogen” kick-starts the EP, a wonderful cacophonous blend of Pixies, Holy Bible-era Manics, and Fugazi style sloganeering. The strangely sexy “What Did I Ever Do to You?” sounds like the Bees slowly turning into Nirvana while “My Love is Everlasting” and “Victimize” both recall scarier versions of early Young Knives songs. “Secret Admirer” is a demented, obsessive ode to “child-bearing hips.” The way the singer screams “Ee, el, ess, EEEEEE!” is without a doubt the best thing put on record by anyone this year and the guitar-work is instantly familiar but never derivative. “Your Stomach Will Never Touch Your Back” lasts just long enough to spit out its title in a bilious bath of demented discordant notes. “Testosterone’s” riff sounds like a slight nod to Final Fantasy VII (could be mistaken) but this train of thought has us thinking that the Cellar Family display the same sense of fun and dynamics that made The Rock of Travolta such an exciting prospect when they first turned up on the scene all those years ago integrating “The Imperial March” into their songs. So if this is Flab then pack it on and call me a fat bastard.

(originally published in Oxfordshire Music Scene, issue 14)

http://www.oxfordmusicscene.co.uk/images/oms_issue14.pdf