
SHADY PAST
The long Insiders rise up to meet us from the darker underbelly of the clean crisp spires of Oxford to bring us songs of gin, lies, cold women and guilty men in smoke filled bars that are soon to be a distant memmory. A new incarnation of the long term musical collaberation, between the Brother's Kenny (Nick and Simon) and drummer, Dan Goddard, was born when Nick met Sarah (Vocals) in the corner of a theatre bar. Mentioning casually that she might be able to sing 'a bit' was the start of an bubbling and fractious coming together that saw the re-emergance of some of Oxford's finest musicians but with a twist - shaken and stirred.
LIVE
The music is something in itself but it is live that The Long Insiders come into their own and they deliver a show that's full of energy from start to finish. Sometimes the crowd feel as if they have interrupted an arguement which is played out and resolved over a 40 minute set, sometimes the connection between the pair is electric. There is something about the live event even that brings showmanship into the music but takes nothing away from the style. Once described as 'music for spies' there are all the twists and turns of tone and pace that means there is something for every mood at a Long Insider's gig.
CRITICS AND CROWDS
"Subtle but well placed whammy dives, rock and western riffage with crystal and melancholic notes from Sarah, complimenting the rough edge"
"a unique blend of tremelo surf guitar and breathy female vocals"
THE TRACKS
Picked out by BBC Oxford and Pitchfork Media as music you really out to get your ears around, the slick and seedy foursome's full catalogue (numbering some 17 or so tracks) gives you a look through a half empty martini glass at a world of Ennio Morricone-inspired spagetti westerns and emotional alt surf melodies with a guitar style that is characteristically Long Insidders and difficult to pin down as it twists and turns through stops and changes. These records (and records seems fitting given all the 60's referencing going on in the music) keep the listener in their musical toes.
There is always a dangerous edge to the conflict, tension, lust and passion that Sarah Dodds and Nick Kenny weave together on stage. The taut love-hate friction between the singer & lead guitarist is what is at the heart of both the songwriting, and indeed the Long Insider’s live performances. She switches from a honey-voiced seductive temptress to a sneering antagonist in a heart-beat, whilst he wails out emphatic, sometimes unrequited, Americana riffs. The result is a unique, incomparable maelstrom of intensity, pointed humour and memorable music - all of which wouldn’t be out of place in a Rodrigues or Tarantino movie-set!
| All The Tears [4:31] |
| No Baby No [3:38] |
| Liar [3:58] |