Cymbals is Dan, Jack, Neil and Sean. Some of them have played in bands before, but this one is different – it’s sort of a romantic thing, some kind of chemistry that makes the songs what they are. Three of them got together in the summer of 2010, played some showswith D/R/U/G/S, Spector, Matt & Kim, Flats, but mainly preferredplaying near-secret parties in East London to friends and friends of friends. Sean had never played drums before. They tried to strip the melodies of any excess learning. Their sound was lean, fast and close, their songs were about dancing, fun and forgetting. In May 2011 they released their first 9 months of songs in an album called Unlearn through Tough Love, on limited hand-screen printed vinyl. The album quickly sold out, and interest has grown ever since. Unlearn was a snapshot of charming naivety by a band that were figuring out what it meant to write together. Mixed and produced by James Yuill, D/R/U/G/S and Rory Brattwell, it documents their first year and has become dear to a horde of devoted fans. Sideways Sometimes is a different beast. Recorded over five days on Lightship 95, a boat moored in the Thames, the EP has a cleaner, morecoherent feel. Fourth member Neil Gillespie took over from Sean on drums, while Sean returned to his first instrument, bass, filling out the space in their sound. Continuing the theme for somewhat special artwork, the band enlisted Robin Hulme, a fabric designer for Liberty, to create a one-off design that will grace the cover of the vinyl. The EP is released April 23rd and the first track to heard it will be ‘No Bad Decisions’.
