Festival Review: Camden Crawl 2014 [Day One]

Camden Crawl (20-21 June '14) // Words: Saam Das

The Camden Crawl took an unexpected rest last year, returning this year in a new slot in the calendar, rebranding itself CC14. Much was the same as previous years however, with a strong selection of bands across multiple venues in the Camden area - although arguably somewhat reduced in scope. Headliners of the stature of Atari Teenage Riot and The Field being the contradictory evidence. I've always preferred checking out the smaller bands, however, and here's my take on day one of the festival.

Listen: CYMBALS - No Bad Decisions [EP Preview]

Words: Saam Das

I still vaguely remember receiving an anonymous email from CYMBALS sometime in 2010 pointing us in the direction of their Pavement meets Talking Heads-inspired anthems. I believe they even managed to convince one blogger that they were Swedish. I might be making that up though. Anyway, one album down the line, the London quartet are back with a new effervescent offering, from the same mould as those early demos.

Surfacing: CYMBALS

Words: Saam Das

If there's one superficial musical trend in 2010 that's left me cold, it's the attempt to shroud new acts in secrecy. There's been iamamiwhoami, Summer Camp, Silver Columns, WU LYF, Islet and probably many more. I can now add CYMBALS to that list.


I was one of the umpteen bloggers to receive an email from the band entitled "THE EXHIBITION IS AVERAGE AT BEST", with simply a link to a Bandcamp page and about six words. Had they not written "Hey Faded Glamour" in the opening line of the email, it would be swimming round in my email trash right now. Which would have been a shame, as this initial glimpse into their work is enticing.