News / / 22.08.13

The Portillo Moment

Here’s a Bristol-based four piece who rustle up riffage with a perfect fuzz/jangle ratio, resulting in a sound that blends the mumbling charm of the old Matador Records roster with the perky eccentricity of C86-style indie groups. And true to their influences, The Portillo Moment’s debut EP Demonstration Tape is a proudly micro-budget affair. “We recorded it in a friend’s bedroom and the process was pleasingly DIY”, lead guitarist Henry Rees-Sheridan tells Crack. “The pop shield we used for the vocals was made out of an unwashed t-shirt stretched over a coat hanger”. Lyrically, the band depict typically Anglicised accounts of the naïve thrills and crushing insecurities that define adolescence, with bassist/vocalist Celia Archer’s subtle, carefully annunciated tones depicting an overarching thematic narrative. “We have ten songs which, taken together, form a non-linear concept album based around the BBC, Mini Cheddars and fingering” they promise, “but you’ll have to wait for the record to come out to get the full story”. And while this is all in progress, the band have been getting impressively tight on stage. “We’re getting to a point now where Henry doesn’t have to have a pint of room-temperature Ribena and a lie down in order to calm his nerves before facing the public”, they boast. If they can maintain this level of swagger, there’ll be no stopping them.

soundcloud.com/the-portillo-moment

Tune: St Catherine’s

File Next To: The Shop Assistants | Helium

The Portillo Moment play The Exchange, Bristol on August 31st and the Simple Things launch party at The Shacklewell Arms, London September 6th

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