Golden Blue - Screaming Tea Party

When you think 'Japanese band' you think 'bubblegum punk-pop', right? And Tokyo-via-London's Screaming Tea Party deliver on that front: 'Car Crash Beauties' is like JG Ballard fronting Elastic and 'Today Is The Day' like L7s 'Pretend We Are Dead' driving 'Greased Lightning' but on this mini-album, the band also manage to subvert expectations, making you feel like  abit of a racist. 'Golden Blue' and 'Holy Disaster' are both ethereal rock waltzes which sound like Leonard Cohen on helium, and 'The Witch From Oregan' recalls teh point when Sonic Youth stopped slapping their instruments with Andy Warhol's wig and began to play them. Altogether, more fun than diving for coings in a ball pool.   8/10 NME

The glorious and much fitter sister to the podgy full lengther is here. 'Golden Blue' is as playful as a date with a redhead wearing a
see through t-shirt. 'I'd Rather Be Stuck On The Stair Rail' is a potty mouth, hip-swaying punk punch while title track 'Golden Blue'
reveals a grossly sweeter Screaming Tea Party. This London-based trio are well en route to becoming Rough Trade pin-ups for DIY indie-chic, where you hear The Pixies, The Sex Pistols and Sonic Youth in one spitting musical tantrum that has us waiting for the next jab. -Clash Magazine

screaming tea party are two parts tokyo boys - niyan on guitar and koichi on bass - and one part english girl - nell - on the drums. their background takes in the diverse worlds of being both classically trained and cutting their teeth in japanese noise bands: this musical and cultural collision makes them truly unique. the band list their musical influences as: the damned, velvet underground, butthole surfers, abba, morita-douji, yurayura-teikoku, leonard cohen, dinosaur jr, can, francoise hardy, sonic youth. all of these can be heard on 'golden blue', but the overriding sound is very much their own. this mini-album perfectly showcases what a mercurial beast screaming tea party are. from the snarling, sabbath riffs of opener 'i'd rather be stuck on the stair rail', to the alice in wonder land waltz of title track 'golden blue': here is a band that can change direction at the drop of a hat and sound equally at home making ear-bleedingly loud, thrash guitar work outs, to beautiful other worldly, psych-ballads. no-where is this better exemplified than on the record's stand out track, 'holy disaster': with its celestial harmonies and almost bach-esque, chiming guitar solo it wouldn't sound out of place on the twin peaks soundtrack. treading the line between energetic wonder and stage trashing chaos, live, screaming tea party are peerless. wearing a gas-mask (and often ending gigs only wearing his pants) niyan is as visually arresting as he is an exceptional guitarist. screaming tea party released their debut ep 'death egg' on 10 inch vinyl on stolen recordings in march 2007. all three band members paint, draw and make film and their art represents them as much as their music. -Rough Trade

emerging from the stolen stable that included pete and the pirates are screaming tea party. they are known for their live sets that flit from flat-out thrash punk to plaintively melodic numbers. golden blue captures it all but sounds much tamer than they do live, which is often a criticism; here it isn't- the brilliant guitar work is more recognisable and with in the seven songs here, they lurch from snarling noisecore, to glam rock, to acoustic folk, and it works a treat. one of the most interesting bands in our fair capital.-The Beat Happening