Punch & the Apostles are a band. Neither they nor their music are exceptional in any way. The process of writing and performing only began with the desire to denounce the ubiquitous mediocrity with which they found themselves surrounded. Now, having not-so-much-carved, but rather blasted a niche for themselves in the accumulated muck, hypocrisy and tawdry hucksterism which constitutes the music industry, they intend to create a music which conforms to their firmly held belief in the irreconcilability of art and commerce. Any artist who does not conform to this doctrine does not merit the epithet with which he refers to himself.

Materially, the concrete tools of sonic production are: vocals, percussion, guitars (bass and 6-string), violins, accordions, saxophones (tenor and alto), trumpets, cymbals, sheet metal, boots, table legs, bricks, vibra-slap, oscillation, organs, combs, Nature.

Conceptually, the agenda is to utilize inherited, traditional forms of music and revitalize them (after decades of abuse and indifference) by placing them in new and contradictory contexts, thus achieving both the abolition and the reinstitution of anachronism as a form of aesthetic critique. Folk music and its correlative forms present a particularly powerful tool in that they exhibit the collective cultural consciousness of a specific social group. The soul of a people can be discerned through their art. Our interest is in the human soul, therefore, in search of it, we are led ineluctably to the examination of the aesthetic product. Totalitarianism is the universal spectre of recent history. It has irremediably coloured the human consciousness. In the regions subjected to Stalinism, this phenomenon can be observed in its purest form. Hence, Eastern European sounds constitute the principle foundation for the music of Punch & the Apostles. Waltz's, tarantellas, polkas, and klezmer music exhibit their luminescent, deathless forms through a cross-pollination with abstract noise, drone and monologue. Obscenity is a prime weapon of choice in the battle to communicate for, wielded in full knowledge of its juvenile profundity, it can be used to achieve the objective supervention of narrow personal prejudice.

Often, sentiments cannot be expressed in simple prose. Therefore, to convey the ineffable character of this band, a haiku must suffice.

Hear the peach blossom
Tolling the death of commerce:
Smile and be content

Seven Inch Club No.4 by Punch & the Apostles is available in our online shop.

Track listing:

1. Asylum
2. Tie Me To The Mast

I'm A Hobo by Punch & The Apostles will be released on 27 October.

Track listing:

1. I'm A Hobo
2. Can Of Beans

Punch & The Apostles' MySpace: www.myspace.com/punchandtheapostles

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