UPDATE!!!!!
Italian garage rock duo Barclay and Ichinose have made an impact on the independent music scene with their eclectic approach, blending the sharp edge of punk and rock and roll with the melodic depth of psychedelic rock and pop, absorbing influences that defy limitations imposed by genres and eras.
The pair announced the released of a brand new EP under Japanese BlueHand Vain Records
Scheduled for released this summer, The Ep , entitled “The Horizon is Only The Limit Of Your Sight “will be a split between Barclay and Ichinose and Japanese post rock artist Yousuke Watanabe, featuring both acts on the record, one on each side, keeping the eclectic and experimental attitude of the artists alive in new, exciting ways!
Find out more and check out the beautiful artwork created by Barret Clark here: Randy Ichinose
When you think about a rock duo you might think that you already know what kind of music these sort of line-ups can play, for better or for worse. When it comes to these kind of artist set-ups, these days a few names immediately come to mind. The White Stripes and The Black Keys are a really good example: These groups have had the huge merit of bringing back the grit and true, uncompromising essence of true garage rock and roll to a major audience worldwide, reaching major success. Or you might think about something a little more “indie”, such as Japandroids or Death From Above 1975, acts that were able to re-invent the duo concept, each in their own special way.
But being a duo isn’t just about a guitarist/songwriter sharing the stage with a drummer to keep the beat: There are duos who refuse to let their minimal line-up to put any restrains to their creativity and song-writing reach. There are some duos out there that can deliver much more than you would expect, and one of these acts is budding Italian duo Barclay and Ichinose.
Barclay and Ichinose is a collaboration between Joe Barclay (vocals, guitars, keyboard, bass) and Randy Ichinose (vocals, drums, percussion, guitars, bass, producer), signed under Japanese indie label BueHandVein.
There’s something really charming about the organic, D.I.Y. approach that this pair strives to achieve, recording the songs in the most straight-forward way as possible, leaving all the “human feel” and energy of two musicians intact. There’s something really special about these kind of recordings nowadays, especially since we seem to be completely dominated by a music industry where everybody seem to go for the slickest sound quality, over-polishing everything on pro-tools and similar tools, whether we are talking about home-recorded artists or big studio productions.
Barclay and Ichinose are far from all of that, striving to bring back honesty to their music. Songs like “Low Level, Monday Afternoon” blink an eye to 60s and 70s psychedelic pop and rock, while other tune such as “The Scene That Celebrates Itself” has got lots to share with post-hardcore, emo and punk. These guys are no music-snobs, and their style is really eclectic, embracing different genres and influences that have all one thing in common: those values the band really cares about in music: honesty, direct approach, from the musician to the recording.
Just to mention some influences and “musical co-ordinates”, I might almost dare saying that Barclay and Ichinose almost make me think about how it would sound if The Beatles suddenly found themselves forward in time and had developed an appreciation for My Bloody Valentine and their reverb-filled, atmospheric and haunting songs. And while getting there, they absorbed their favorite bits of music along the ages, everything from Floydian psychedelia to early punk rock and emo.
These guys really know how to manipulate all of these different background influences and sounds in order to create something new, something that is “their own” and screams out their personality as a band, rather than merely mimicking the bands the duo enjoys. We have an eclectic approach, great lo-fi aesthetics and D.I.Y. ethics…an impressive set of tunes…but perhaps the biggest selling point of all is the band’s charisma and personality!
A really interesting blend of sounds that deserves to be explored!
Find out more about Barclay and Ichinose, their equipment and their music on http://barclayandichinose.com/
