Don't Tread On Spiders

Brilliant stuff. Self-hating, nihilistic and defeatist lo-fi rock; untamed,sloppy feedback, crackly recordings and a strained, wailing cry for truth in amongst the sombre crawling pace of 'Monomyth'. Dirgy and deep, I'm Looking forward to seeing where these guys will go. - Artrocker Magazine

Formerly Cardiff's The Days, they've now - like Mohawk in 'Gremlins 2' - transformed into 'Spiders', ahem. This debut four-track starts off with a ear-catching intro to 'My Week in Shinjuku', and it continues to please the ears by a being a mesh between angular post punk and 60s pop. This two girls and a guy three-piece fit together as snugly as old slippers, a fitting analogy for the track 'Together Again' with its folk-strumming, gentle drumline and flute is a warm cup of tea and crumbly biscuits. It's an uplifting and apologetic number as lead singer Sonny Day states 'I didn't mean to make you feel lonely.'

The title trick begins off ominously with a growling guitar and bassline played out over The Velvet Undeground-ish drums, it's another shift in direction for the band and again they wear it well. Unlike other bands that shift awkwardly as they try to fit their influences, Don't Tread On Spiders take a careful dash of what intrigued them about other bands and give it their own gloss.

The EP ends on the weakest track, 'St. Anthony' is a half-sung poem pronounced over a school hall sounding piano and lacks the eerie emotion to really make it resonate. It feels more like a footnote rather than a fitting close to a darn fine debut release from this highly accomplished band, I look forward to hearing more from them. ' - God Is In The TV

Unsigned (DIY Label)
February 12, 2009, 03:14 PM

It’s always fun to be the outcasts, the outsiders, the underdogs, the renegades. Okay, maybe not renegades, that’s probably taking it a bit far, but would look awesome as a quote on a press release or the back of a CD. My pathetically over exaggerated and dramatically made point is that nobody in my region really sounds like ‘Don’t Tread On Spiders’. That is sometimes a good thing, and sometimes bad, because as great as it is to be unique, it can also prove difficult to slot into the pretentious and tight knit circles and to secure more gigs, although with a upcoming gig in Cardiff University’s 1500 capacity Great Hall (a phenomenal achievement for a local act), they probably don’t need your help anyway thanks.

‘Monomyth’ is the most recent release from this unsigned Cardiff based band and features 4 tracks that successfully showcase the band’s song writing diversity. With the playful and innocent appeal and sound of acts such as ‘Los Campesinos!’ and the honey soaked vocals of Brendan Benson, ‘My Week In Shinjuku’ is the perfect introduction to this band and summarises everything that there is to love about their music. ‘Together Again’ meanwhile is a more low-key affair although it’s stripped down traits allow for the innocence and honesty to shine through.

The moody sounding title track ‘Monomyth’ is possibly the darkest that ‘Don’t Tread On Spiders’ and isn’t unlike the most electric fuzzy moments of The Von Bondies. In all, a fantastic range of songs capped off with the beautifully creepy and haunting St Anthony that is so diverse and fine tuned that it is difficult to get bored of. A token cheesy and predictable journalistic phrase to sum it up? – ‘Ones to watch!’

http://hangout.altsounds.com/reviews/105179-dont-tread-on-spiders-monomyth-ep.html - Altsounds

"there's not a terrific amount of tricks up the sleeves of south Wales trio The Days, but they sure do peddle a fantastic line in simple, soppy indie pop. Theirs is a sound that recalls the likes of The Velvet Underground, Johnathan Richman and Glasgow cutie types The Pastels. Aw, bless" - NME