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- BBC ''OneMusic"
Isa & The Filthy Tongues:
Nae Tongues/I'll Do What I Want
Three members of The Filthy Tongues used to be at the heart of a band called Goodbye Mr Mackenzie, a Scottish based group that also had a certain Shirley Manson among their number, who went on to be the lead singer of Garbage. Butch Vig came along looking for a singer for his new project and propelled Miss Manson into the major league, by which time the group had evolved into Angelfish and the constant American touring had already threatened to break the group up.
Now bassist Fin Wilson, guitarist Martin Metcalfe and drummer Derek Kelly are back and this time they've bought Stacey Chavis a lead singer from Portland Oregon along for the ride. Stacey had been asked to join countless bands in the past but she never had the confidence to jump at the chance but upon hearing one song from the trio she decided to act and join the group.
Before long the newly named Isa & The Filthy Tongues had won a demo competition on Radio One and were recieving all sorts of attention. The band signed to Circular Records and recorded their debut album Addiction (check back with us shortly for a full album review), from which this single is lifted.
Oddly the opening track on this duel song CD, Nae Tongues is an instrumental number and perhaps a strange choice as an introduction. However this instrumental grabs you by the scruff of the neck and demands you to take notice, it's a Dirty Three like piece with chiming guitars, driving bass and inspired drumming that has you're mind wandering across uncharted terrain, providing the perfect soundtrack for a film not yet even dreamt of.
I would have been more than happy with the instrumental work of The Filthy Tongues but I'll Do What I Want adds the delightful icy vocals of Stacey whilst the band once more take us on a journey of discovery, punky guitar licks meld with those driving rhythmic patterns allowing the band to take flight whilst the vocals hook the listener in.
Isa And The Filthy Tongues have a unique and inspired sound that's crying out to be heard and devoured. As an opening introduction this is nigh on perfect and you'll certainly be going back for more in the very near future.
www.rhythmandbooze.net
Added: April 4th 2006
Reviewer: Will Munn
Score: *****
- www.rhythmandbooze.net
Isa & The Filthy Tongues (Circular Records)
First heard this awesome band on the unsigned section and, well, it was inevitable that they'd get a label deal. New single is out this week. Simply fantastic guitar antics with an edgy post-punk feel. Chiming!
www.karmadownload.com
April '06
- www.karmadownload.com
Isa and the Filthy Tongues
The Venue, Saturday 6th May
X FACTOR: Stacey Chavis has come a long way to take on the role of The Filthy Tongues’s frontwoman.
CARLTON Road. Saturday night. Loitering outside the Venue, just after 8.30pm, one pint-sized male aimlessly shoegazes while his freakishly tall friend stares at a poster on which the name of the evening’s headline act is etched.
“Isa and the Filthy Tongues,” says the larger of the pair, “that’s a cool name for a band. Don’t you think?”
Apparently finding this more interesting than his Doc Marten boots, the little shoegazer ponders the question for a minute then suddenly pipes up. “Let’s get in and check them out,” he urges. And in they went . . .
We’ll probably never know how Little and Large rated the evening’s entertainment but, had they any qualms, they would have been in the minority.
Inside the venue, a healthy-sized crowd had assembled to see what all the fuss was surrounding a band comprising former members of long defunct local indie stalwarts Goodbye Mr Mackenzie.
Among the crowd were a fair few ageing goths, roused, no doubt, from their belfries to see how their heroes of yesteryear had aged.
For those not so familiar with the aforementioned, the Mackenzies looked, for a time in the 1980s, like they were on the verge of very big things.
One of the most critically acclaimed bands ever to rise through the ranks of the Edinburgh music scene, the band spent ten years as contenders without ever making the expected breakthrough.
It’s well known what happened to Shirley Manson after the band’s 1992 breakup.
Manson, of course, accepted an invitation to front US band Garbage, went on to sell over ten million albums and had Top Ten hits aplenty.
But while local lass Manson is currently trying her hand at acting – with Garbage on a hiatus – her former bandmates again look like contenders having now evolved into Isa & The Filthy Tongues.
It has been noted before that there’s a certain irony in the fact that, while Manson crossed the Atlantic to find fame, the new band comprising former members of the Mackenzies have recruited a frontwoman who came in the opposite direction.
“This year has been a real trip for me,” explained Portland lass Stacey Chavis, addressing the crowd from the stage. “Yeah, it’s been f******* crazy, and in many ways you guys are really saving my ass.” She wasn’t exaggerating.
Before joining the Filthy Tongues, Chavis had no experience whatsoever as a singer or being in a band.
However, on this night’s evidence it won’t be long before people are asking, “Shirley who?”
Indeed, not only has Chavis the voice to front a rock band, but she also oozes charisma, as she displayed at Saturday’s launch gig of the band’s excellent debut album Addiction.
Taking to the stage just after 9pm, the band – Metclafe (guitar), Derek Kelly (drums) and Fin Wilson (bass) – launched into the entirely instrumental Nae Tongues.
The opening track on the album, Nae Tongues may contain no vocals but it’s all the better for it – all stirring guitars, driving bass and some dexterous drumming.
They may be a new band in name, but it was clear from the onset that those on the stage had been around the block a few times.
It was the third song of the set before Chavis appeared on stage, wowing the crowd in shorts and boxer boots.
After watching her writhe around on stage for some 45 minutes – as her bandmates served up their infectious Pixies-like brand of Gothic-country-surf music for the crowd – it was clear that, not only has Chavis got the X Factor, but, collectively, this band are a little bit special.
Gary Flockhart – (8th May ’06)
- Edinburgh Evening News
Isa and the Filthy Tongues The Venue Edinburgh 6th May 2006
In a busy Venue we are all here for Isa and the Filthy Tongues launch of their album Addiction. Martin, Derek and Fin wander on stage and without a word launch into album opener Nae Tongues a fast instrumental track that sets the opening pace for the set. Second track starts with a very Pixie’s feel bass and after the opening intro we can hear Stacey’s voice somewhere off stage half singing half talking the lyrics – something I haven’t seen a band do since Lee Scratch Perry – and this combined with the music to give a very dark almost disturbing feel to the track. Stacey then saunters onto stage and the band line-up is complete. Musically The Filthy Tongues influences come through with shades of the darker side of the Pixies and the obvious influence of Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie. Stacey provides the main visual presence cavorting around the stage in a very provocative manner reminiscent of Sousie Sioux and it is very difficult to take your eye’s off her as she provides solid vocals to the dirty riffs and horny bass lines. Stacey is the type of girl you would like to take home to shock your mum and her twisting and turning on stage dressed in boxer boots, cut-off trousers held up with a Skull belt and tattoo displayed at the base of her spine is mesmerising the male section of the audience. Set list taken from the album with the tracks played in a different order and the interestingly title Finders Fuckers is more about the lyrics than the music. A very dark set with no crowd interaction increased the intensity of the set and left me wanting to understand the stories and messages behind the tracks. An excellent performance and lets hope Stacey, Martin, and co can now take up where the Mackenzies left off. If this is America’s underbelly I want to see and hear more.
www.gigreviewscotland.net/Gigs2006new.htm - gigreviewscotland.net
Discography
Past releases as Goodbye Mr Mackenzie and Angelfish.
Photos
Bio
The Filthy Tongues were skulking in the shadows making their guitar, drums and bass snarl like the Scottish musical cousins of The Dirty Three, before meeting this American girl in 2004 coaxed them back into the limelight.
"We were playing a gig in London," recalls bassist Fin Wilson.
"I thought I met her in a psychiatric hospital," ponders guitarist Martin Metcalfe.
"That was it," recalls Derek Kelly, drummer. "Aye it was, because you thought having a therapist in the band might be a useful thing in the future."
However it happened, Stacey Chavis from Portland, Oregon, became Isa with The Filthy Tongues.
Having in-house therapy on call must have seemed like a good idea after the trio's experiences as the heart and lungs of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie, a band who ricocheted round record labels narrowly missing a high score in Europe, before evolving into Angelfish. That pushed backing singer Shirley Manson to the fore, and the new group made a dent in the U.S. college and independent charts.
Butch Vig came a calling for a singer to front his new band Garbage just when constant American touring was threatening to gut Angelfish anyway.
"If Shirley had been that good a singer in the beginning then I would never have become the front man, and just stayed playing guitar," insists Metcalfe.
Stacey has spent a lifetime being asked to join various bands, but always said no, because the confidence just was not there.
But on hearing The Filthy Tongues, she said yeh, as one of their songs would have it. Visit http://www.myspace.com/thefilthytongues for video and chat.
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