They are Rival Joustas and if you've ever spoken to me in the last year or so about my favourite music, then theres a good chance I've mentioned them. The reason they are my homies is that they are a band I have made a conscious effort to support by attending their gigs whenever possible (I estimate that I've been to about 6), buying their merchandise (they produce a nice t-shirt) and most recently, turning up to be in the video for their debut single 'The Masquerade' which was released for download at the beginning of this week and comes out on CD and Vinyl format on 23rd April.
Being in the video was an interesting experience, involving (as you may be able to see) dancing around in the background at various speeds whilst wearing a Zorro-style white mask. I turned up for the video shoot on my own and as such was somewhat dismayed to find out my company largely consisted of small rabbles of 16 year olds, many of whom had that 'emo-and-unapproachable' look.
Luckily I discovered a fellow non-teenager, a guy called James who was a few years older than me, and who was genuinely one of the coolest and most interesting people I have met in recent times. We spent the rest of the day chatting about the phoenix-nights-style feel of the venue (a social club full of grumpy old gits), music, The Bret Easton Ellis book Im reading, career prospects and life in general. It turned out to be a good day.
Anyway, about the band. I could wax-lyrical on Rival Joustas until the sun came down (or up, if I started at night) but at this point I can't really be bothered as its late and this post was more intended as a promotional post for the new song. You can listen to your music for yourself rather than read my interpretation of it, so instead I'll just say here that I think its very very good. You really have to see them live to capture the full experience though (this is what got me hooked), to see singer Thom's madness on stage (which usually ends up off-stage, into the crowd). They're touring lots as a newly-signed band so have a look on their myspace page to find out when they're playing close to you.
I shall now leave you with a few choice tracks selected from earlier EPs/demos to give you more of a flavour for their range of talents. I predict big things for Rival Joustas in 2007. So make sure you're there before the big sweeping masses.
Download 'The Masquerade' on itunes
MP3: Pinch - Rival Joustas
MP3: Experiment - Rival Joustas
MP3: Clarity - Rival Joustas
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