Them Plasms

Good rock and roll is too damn hard to find. Too many intellectuals, y'see.

Them Plasms is trash-blues with breakbeats. Rock and roll, but fun again. Duncan Turner and James Presnell.

The band’s sound IS James’ drums. Funk, soul and hip-hop breaks hold the beat down underneath Duncan’s distorted gospel-blues-garage idiot-guitar riffs and haggard vocals. Who among you has seen a band that makes (MAKES) you dance? No one flips the beat and breaks it down like Them Plasms.

As one man band Kirk Special, Duncan was invited to Minneapolis’ own Deep Blues Festival 2009, a celebration of underground, untraditional and unusual blues that featured bands from all over America and Europe. And one from Australia. Following that, he came home and went on to win the Killing Floor Blues Challenge (causing no small amount of controversy) and play at Adelaide’s Juke Joint at Queens, release his first album (the Fewer the Facts, the Stronger the Opinion, Stobie Sounds, feb 2010) and secure an invitation to NXNE festival in Toronto. He's played shows all over Australia with artists like Jackson Firebird, Abbe May, the Snowdroppers and the Dunhill Blues (whom he also played guitar for on an east coast tour).

James is a polite and quiet young man, to the point of mysteriousness. Despite his baffling reticence, it has come to light that he is an avid vinyl collector and fan of good old fashioned funk, soul, hip-hop and blues. James first sat behind a drum kit in high school and hasn't moved since. Playing in various jazz ensembles and big bands through his school years, he then shied away from the stage and could only be found playing along to his record collection.