JOSH PYKE + Zillionaire + Dark Captain Light Captain

Tue 3rd Apr 2007

The Luminaire presents
JOSH PYKE
+ Zillionaire
+ Dark Captain Light Captain

Doors 7.30
£6 via WeGotTickets
£7 door

This is the final show of a three night residency for Josh

“…though his high voice will bring casual comparisons to Elliott Smith, the similarities lie more in the raw and mysterious imagery… of the kind most current singer songwriters wouldn’t consider…. Pyke has particular promise.” [Uncut]

It didn't take long before Josh Pyke's unique voice and song writing style, influenced by the likes of Elliott Smith, Evan Dando, and Sparklehorse, began to find favour amongst music tastemakers, critics and Triple J listeners in his Australian homeland. The first taste, the assured 'Kids Don't Sell Their Hopes So Fast', found high rotation on JJJ and soon 'Silver' and the gently sweeping 'Doldrums' followed to similar praise and airplay.

“Memories & Dust’ is a classic example of one-man acoustic story-telling – quirky, sullen and akin to a more upbeat Elliott Smith. This is a world-class album from the Australian songwriter who signed to Island last year. A very bright talent.” [Music Week]

Earlier this year Josh signed to Ivy League Records and shortly afterwards travelled to New York for some further writing, performing and demoing and upon return set about recording what will be his debut release under his own name, a mini album entitled 'Feeding The Wolves'.

"Feeding the Wolves" signifies a great deal more than a change in name: It reveals a huge step in the development of Josh as an artist and songwriter. The subject matter is as broad as titles like 'Beg Your Pardon', 'Private Education', 'Middle Of The Hill' and 'Goldmines' suggest, however it's Josh's lyrics that draw this collection of songs together into a complete package. He cleverly dissects human emotion and feelings and shows them for what they are: complex, abstract, fascinating.

With production by the much-lauded Wayne Connolly (You Am I, Underground Lovers, Youth Group, just about any Australian act of note...), "Feeding The Wolves" has the artist now rightly known as Josh Pyke letting his talent flow without constraint. The words seem to tumble out of him: honest, evocative, and emotional all at once. The playing - again mostly all Josh - is one moment sweetly melodic, then turning urgent and insistent as needs be. This range of feelings, packaged so they bounce around inside your head like good songs do, and given so generously, go together to make 'Feeding The Wolves' the sound of an artist beginning to realise an enormous potential.

Main support are the perfect psycho-geographic combination; Zillionaire sound both exquisitely chilled and streaked with a lonesome melancholy (as anyone who recognises the nature of definitive music of Kiwi origin will appreciate) but there's urban tension and tenacity in their soul. This is delicate, intricate songsmithery but with a swarthy, slowburning gait.

"An engaging astute melancholy married to a healthy combination of profound pop classicism and sleek guitar shininess." [Playlouder]

Their debut album 'Comfort In The Machine' infuses both dynamics and speaks of experiences both arduous and joyful. It involves shifting life and soul to the other side of the world; over-fragile Spanish bass players; recording in tiny London bedrooms and famous plush Welsh studios. All the usual trials and tribulations, then. But the result is an unusually sublime collection of songs.

"Stephan Tomasek has a voice smooth enough to melt this audience into a quiet hush." [Disorder]

"They recall a supremely dreamy Jeff Buckley, or Buckley if he was smitten by Air and Pink Floyd rather than Led Zeppelin. Either way, Zillionaire are a more organic, precious commodity than the living-in-the-material-world suggestion of their name." [The Times]

"Earnest Jeff Buckley-inspired rock." [Time Out]

Opening proceedings are East London duo Dark Captain Light Captain who came together in 2006, and aim to make both themselves and other people happy. Here are some things people have said about them:

“Think The Beta Band meeting Ride, with Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Kings Of Convenience looking on approvingly.” [TuneTribe.com]

“They manage to sound fresh and exciting while remaining strangely familiar, to retain the rough-edged quality of a DIY recording while sounding more than competently produced and, all-in-all, win us over with a minimum of effort and a quiet, lackadaisical confidence.” [Supersweet Magazine]

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