THE VICTORIAN ENGLISH GENTLEMENS CLUB get pleasure from building cold-hearted shambolic weirdo pop music with drums, voices, electric mandolins, an Indian shruti harmonium, a self- made bow-screamo (wire nailed to wood), sparrows, telephones and a church bell hit with a hammer. They listen to Grinderman, Liars, ‘154’ by Wire, Deerhoof, Cardiacs and ‘Flowers of Romance’ by PiL, but have an affinity with the three-minute pop song. A bag of 3 noisy, existentialist, Dada-esque punk mercenaries who have been sent from afar (Cardiff) to re-ignite the discordant DIY art school blaze. With unashamedly lo-fi leanings they’ve progressively evolved from minimalist post-punk to the far darker no-wave feel which they now piss proudly from every pore.

TVEGC formed at Cardiff Art School, art being a driving force behind the bands creation. With no clue of what a band should do they started playing terrible shows immediately, using a lot of visual imagery and songs that had a tendency to implode. The first 34 demos were recorded in a city centre youth project for £3.20 an hour. They quickly got good and Fantastic Plastic Records released the sparse and shouty self titled debut in 2006. Love On An Oil Rig followed in 2009 on This is Fake DIY Records – a darker, heavier record influenced by a discovery of Wire and PiL. The new album, Bag Of Meat (2011) is a weird dark pop record, the most accessible and coherent. TVEGC have toured enough times to drive round the UK and Europe blindfolded, played the USA three times, and toured with Sons And Daughters, Archie Bronson Outfit, Deerhoof and British Sea Power.