smallgang
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smallgang

London, England, United Kingdom | INDIE

London, England, United Kingdom | INDIE
Band Alternative Pop

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"Hooked Up Smallgang biog"

Sounding something like Johnny Cash fronting Sonic Youth or Smog's Bill Callahan holding his own in front of Dinosaur Jr, anyone who loves excitingand intelligent rock music will find something to love in the repertoire of Smallgang. Fronted by half-Japanese siblings Simon and Toshi Kobayashi and backed by the rhythm section of Matt and Ruth Atkins, Smallgang are tightly knit and tightly wound, distilling an eclectic mix of influences through a restless and inquisitive mindset that sets them apart from much of today's 'indie' scene.

We recommend you pick up a copy of 'Labours' an album of material they recorded themselves and sell at shows and through their myspace

We here at Hooked Up Records were so impressed with their live show we decided to make our debut release Smallgang's 'Waiting for Your Life/Til it's Gone'. - Hooked Up records


"Review of "Waiting For Your Life" 7""

Even more indie. We can't get enough of it here. It's like the best sandwich filling ever. Onto Smallgang now who have a 7" out on Hooked Up. For once the prsss release is spot on with it sounding like an odd mash up of Pavement, Kings Of Leon and Smog esque vocals. Sounds crazy but it does work. Not bad at all Waiting For Your Life is 7" only kids - Norman Records


"REVIEW: Shonen Knife / Smallgang / Baguette Bardot"

"Next up come smallgang, a band in which every member wears glasses, clearly through necessity rather than affectation. I rather like them, although this is not a view shared by all my colleagues. They alternate singers and what start out as deceptively deadpan songs often mutate into noisy but controlled thrashing. “I’m in the cockpit” (?) is a particularly fine tune." - Artrocker


"REVIEW: Shonen Knife, Screaming Tea Party, Smallgang, Former Utopia"

"Up next was London four piece Smallgang, who had been very impressed with at a show a month or two previously, and they upped their game here. Though dealing with a shorter time on stage they condensed their act well, shifting the focus onto just one of their two vocalists and tracks like Cockpit bellowed gloriously out across the hall; falling somewhere between Regeneration-era The Divine Comedy and Stephen Malkmus at his most post-punk." - God Is In The TV


"REVIEW: Smallgang, Bearsuit, Superman Revenge Squad, Susie Hug, BAANEEX"

"Smallgang were on next, another band I’ve seen thrice, and they still impress, their songs are ragged yet performance with a certain clockwork precision, howls of guitar noise over angular melodies, with two vocalists lending either an arch-Neil Hannon vibe on songs like Cockpit or a touch of Ian Curtis on others. I’m eagerly looking forward to their new album so I can put a few more names to some of the sounds that are still fluttering around my ears, but they were as dependable as ever." - God Is In The TV


Discography

2007 - Waiting for Your Life 7' Single (Hooked up)
2008 - Til Its Gone 7' Single (Hooked up)
2009 - 'Labours' LP (Hooked up)
2011 - 'Tresspasses' LP - 1st May Release (Damnably 2011)

Radio play on Leith FM, 'Line Of Best Fit' Podcast, Xtreme East, BBC 6 Music Tom Robinson Show, Damnably Radio, Dandelion Radio.

Photos

Bio

smallgang formed through kinship and bookshops. Comprising of Anglo-Japanese brothers Simon and Toshi Kobayashi on joint vocals and guitars, plus Matt and Ruth Atkins on drums and bass respectively. Simon, Ruth and Matt worked together at the now defunct Border’s book store on Oxford Street and the band blossomed out of this friendship. Toshi and Simon have been playing together since Toshi was 19 and Simon 14, cultivating a sort of sibling rivalry that has manifested into the bands’ signature duelling guitar solos. Four very well-read individuals then, whose love of music and literature fans the flames of their astute and aphotic pop.

Coming across as the missing link between Steely Dan, The Smiths, Smog and Shellac, Smallgang are a band who will break your heart and rock your world simultaneously.

Tightly knit and tightly wound through a restless and inquisitive mindset that sets them apart from much of today’s ‘indie’ scene, they have been blowing audiences away for the past couple of years, supported the likes of Dick Dale, Shonen Knife, Chris Brokaw and Geoff Farina, and have big plans!

With a new album on Damnably in May 2011 and tour, prepare to fall in love with one of the best British bands of the moment!

"Up next was London four piece Smallgang, who I had been very impressed with at a show a month or two previously, and they've upped their game here. Though dealing with a shorter time on stage they condensed their act well, shifting the focus onto just one of their two vocalists and tracks like Cockpit bellowed gloriously out across the hall; falling somewhere between Regeneration-era The Divine Comedy and Stephen Malkmus at his most post-punk." God Is In The TV