This is dirty Indie-pop with an Alarm sound updated into the noughties. It is marching music overlaid with guitar riffs and an under-produced quality that ensures the band retain an underground feel to the music that will appeal to some listeners.
The band moved to East Berlin in December 2006 following an offer of studio time in return for playing in a club. They packed their belongings and went to Germany wanting an adventure. On arriving they moved into a squat without electricity or running water and knuckled down into writing and recording new material. It is often the case in art that the best comes from times of hardship and difficulty. Certainly Myriad Creatures have given us a track that is memorable and stomping.
Myriad Creatures have become well known in Germany due to energetic live performances and guerrilla gigs. They have attained much airplay in Germany and are now resident at Café Zapata in the heart of the Tacheles Arts Centre. The period of hardship has served them well it seems.
Being disillusioned rock musicians has it’s benefits and The Hero certainly is an interesting and entertaining track. The strong bass, drums and punk influence will appeal to a reasonably wide audience. Whether they attain fame and fortune is open to debate but as a single, The Hero is worth a listen.
The track can be heard on the band’s MySpace account at
www.myspace.com/myriadcreatures (although I notice that this account has not been logged into since 10/07/07 which does not bode well for a band trying to increase their audience) and the band’s own site at
www.myriadcreatures.com is still under construction so little information can be found there. This is a decent track but if the band are going to come out of the underground scene into a more popular part of the music industry they are going to need to ensure that they are accessible and information is updated otherwise their hoped-for audience will find another band to enjoy in the shallow world that is the music industry. The single is released on 12 November through Jackalope Recordings and I would hope that well before the release date that the band and their label work on improving their MySpace and band sites.