Yes, the boxing paraphernalia in the photo above is relevant to the music of The Artisans. "I know I shouldn't like boxing, but I do" doesn't sound much like the line from a love song, yet the North Easterners run through the names of many famous fighters in the classic indiepop sounding 'However Much I Love You, I Love Lloyd Honeyghan More'. This very brutal of sports is something of a contrast to the '80s inspired guitar music of this group who are "old enough to know better but young enough to still try", although we'd argue that you're never too old. The fact that the band are are named after a line from an Orange Juice song should give you an idea of where they're at musically.
Boy/girl vocals work their magic on 'The Nearly Man' and 'The Night I Met Tracy Emin', and each of their four demos (or at least that's how many are online) are filled to the brim with melody, C86 influences, jangly guitars, the odd touch of surf and occasional organ. A list of influences is somewhat futile as you can probably guess what they are already, but it's safe to say that The Artisans follow in the footsteps of those bands in an extremely capable way and can compete with most of the other current revivalists doing the rounds. It's something I often find myself saying, but if these are demos then they should probably be left as they are because there's nothing at all wrong with any of the tracks. They might score low on originality, but are near the top of the class when it comes to tunes.
The Artisans' website
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