MIRANDA VERSUS THE CROK www.myspace.com/mirandaversusthecrok

''Miranda Versus The Crok offer a dynamic, fresh and alternative way of performing acoustic music live... Their songs can one minute get your heart racing so much you want to punch your fist in the air in time to their stomping feet and the next you're biting your lip and holding back tears..... Throughout a few of their songs tonight I was looking at the stage in disbelief that there were only 2 musicians up there creating such a wall of sound. Their sheer ability on their instruments is really something and they compliment each other perfectly for a unique, and quirky style... A must be seen, exciting live act... ''--Review by Jim Reeves. - Vibrations

''Miranda Arieh's songs really appeal to me. I seem to not get bored of them - me, who has the short attention span and whose music tastes are often short lived. I appreciate the way that her songs are essentially pop songs - short and catchy - but they flow and ebb in unusal ways and simple layers of sound (often just acoustic guitar and acoustic bass) give way to complicated parts. The bass is used as a lead rather than a backing instrument and it's exceptional. Her voice can be soft and gentle or a roaring bellow. Yes, I once descripbed her as sometimes sounding like a little girl and sometimes like Mumm-Ra the Ever Living when she's really roaring. I think I'll stand by that. We've had the pleasure of her company at several Grain Division events now and we await the next! Brilliant!'' - Grain Division Radio site

''superb...behind the feisty vocal lurks someone who clearly knows how to put a decent and quirky tune together. Definitely worth investigating.'' Mike Price for Sandman Magazine. - Sandman Magazine.

MIRANDA VERSUS THE CROC
www.northleedslifegroup.com/wp/?p=90

Friday 5th February, Carpe Diem, Leeds
??Miranda Versus The Croc join Noah and the Whale and Joe Gideon and the Shark in having a moniker that suggests conflict or cahoots with an aquatic creature, but, beyond that, similarities between this acoustic duo and the twee folk-pop of the former or the swampy punk-blues of the latter are few.??

Not wanting to overdo the obvious comparison name check roll call, I do feel it worth mentioning that Miranda has a bewitching quirkiness of the Tori Amos/Kate Bush/Joanna Newsom school and possesses a powerful voice that, at times recalls punk-poet-priestess, Patty Smith.

The duo played an exciting, upbeat set with Miranda rocking an unwieldy looking but rich sounding semi – acoustic bass guitar and the grizzled Croc on a bright and resonant six string. Amply compensating for the absence of drums or percussion through nimble, propulsive bass playing and a viciously rhythmic guitar technique, a distinctive song writing style was revealed with a soulful vocal sailing over brisk, choppy chords.
Occasionally drifting into lilting, jazz-inflected riffage and finger picking, the set retained a strong acousto-punk edge with traces of Undertones or Buzzcocks influence on the likes of Carry Me and a hint of the gypsy-punk of Gogol Bordello on The Yellow Wallpaper. Elsewhere one is reminded of early Ani Difranco (okay, I’m done with the comparisons now. At least they’re entirely favourable).??All in all, Miranda and the Croc delivered a confident and arresting performance with solid, memorable songs and admirable musicianship. Their current Myspace success is well deserved. Now, go check ‘em out.?


- NORTH LEEDS LIFE MAGAZINE

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/leeds/hi/tv_and_radio/newsid_8479000/8479140.stm
Miranda Versus The Crok

Miranda and John - aka Miranda Versus The Crok
For some people, the acoustic scene is an update of the traditional folk club, complete with hushed reverence for the music.

But for acoustic duo Miranda Versus The Crok, they find that they're increasingly seen as too noisy for the acoustic set.

A rambunctious attitude and energetic stage performance sets them apart from the usual band of troubadours.

Their raucous outlook has led them to gigs with punks and heavy metal bands.

The band formed two years ago when buskers Miranda Arieh and John McDonough bumped into each other in town - apparently John had strayed onto Miranda's patch.

They struck up a conversation and discovered they were attuned musically and after some rudimentary jamming became a duo.

BBC Leeds met up with Miranda and John to find out where they think they fit in....if they want to fit in at all!

"We started out playing mainly specialist acoustic gigs at places like The Grove, but found that some fans of acoustic music expect it to be fragile and brittle whereas we're a lot more robust."

"There's a physicality to our music, as we use anything to create percussive sounds to add to the guitars and voices. It can be slapping the instruments, stomping our feet or whatever. It creates not just a rhythm but a whirl of energy around us."

"For some reason that seems to offend the more purist acoustic fans who think we're a bit too 'full on'."

"Consequently we've ended up on some strange bills with other bands that initially seem a world away from what we're doing, but oddly it all seems to work out ok, whether we're playing with punks, metallers or whatever."

"Sometimes it's difficult to find the right venue for what we do. A lot of promoters are either confused or just assume because we play acoustic music, that we should be in the corner of some wine bar."

"Gigs with heavy metal bands and punk outfits at least give us access to a whole new crowd, who may be surprised at what we actually sound like as opposed to what they've surmised from the available information."

"So, we've found it more to our advantage to promote our own gigs by getting bands that we like from the anti-folk scene like Thomas Truax and putting them on at venues like the Brudenell Social Club."

'It works out well a lot of the time when you're first starting out, to support someone who is already well established.''



Miranda Versus The Crok in a live situation


"However we always get a good reception and get asked back from these sort of gigs but it's where you go from there. Do you go down the old-fashioned route of trying to get a record deal or rely on the promotional aspects of social networking sites."

"The music biz is still alive despite reports of its death and they can still be useful in improving your career prospects. We do rely strongly on the promotional aspects of social networking sites like MySpace and we drive and plug the band a lot on these, though we still know that we cant do the full job a record label can do for bands.''

"We're at a bit of a crossroads at the moment as our manager is about to emigrate, so we're wondering what the next step will be. There's no great master plan - we just want as many people as possible to hear what we do."

"There's no real money to be had from record sales anymore unless you're right at the top - it's live performance that pays the bills for musicians these days, but luckily we love performing and we like to play regularly anyway, it's what we do."

"Having said that we do want to document what we do, so we've put out a couple of EPs and there's an album due for release sometime in 2010."

"Luckily a limited amount of money for recording has meant everything sounds very immediate as we haven't the opportunity to go over and over everything."

"But that's a good thing, as we're such perfectionists, we'd never get out of the studio otherwise. We need that guiding hand - that voice that says a piece is finished."

"The only thing we really need to do is tell people that John isn't the Crok! Everyone assumes that he is, but the Crok is actually my alter ego" says Miranda. "Everyone should have one."


- BBC.CO.UK/LEEDS