Cakehole
Presley Cakehole Presley [EP]
“You’d
think they’d
run out of ideas
when naming a band, but the intriguing
Cakehole Presley is a surprising
addition to the music scene — and the
folk-rock band’s
self-titled, six-track EP
is available now...”
DARK AND MYSTERIOUS, Cakehole Presley occasionally (particularly with the
unusual and compelling — and brilliant — track Borrowed
Time) reminds me of the sort of music that accompanies French Tragic Mime.
You can easily imagine a sexily clad, beret-wearing French siren slinking across
the stage. That is, before it gives way to psychedelic folk-rock and the odd
Beatle-esque chorus.
Sounding as though they have a great sense of humour — you'd have to have,
with a name like that! — Cakehole Presley is difficult to describe. A remarkable
band, they are of that rare breed that combines song-writing and style to produce
a universally life-affirming sound that is totally unique. Innovative and great
to listen to, Cakehole Presley deserve recognition.
Described as "infectious, with a vein of wit and wisdom that runs through their
songs that can catapult you up then plunge you down — but never lets go,
compelling you to dance your little socks off", they are hailed as "truly an
impressive and highly enjoyable band; with a debut CD recently launched, Cakehole
Presley are a band going places" (Chapel-cottage.com, re: Raglan Festival).
Cakehole Presley was formed in 2006 and is a four-piece ensemble playing melodic
folk. Heavily influenced by The Beatles and Woody Guthrie, their ethos is to
"follow central themes of love and peace" throughout their music. The band has
been featured on Chris Moyles' top 24 unsigned bands, NME's top unsigned
band and Revolution Radio's band of the year — not bad for a relatively
unknown, Cardiff-based act.
Skippin' Clouds is enchanting and has an almost jazzy beat that has everything
you would need for a potential hit, whereas Me And You is very melodic,
more pop-based, and equally terrific. Cakehold Presley are great to listen to.
All the band members — Chris Ridgeway (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Mark
Huphres (bass, vocals); Al McLean (guitar) and Alka Jones (drums) — have
had extensive experience gigging throughout the UK and Europe before and since
forming Cakehole Presley. And they certainly come across as professionals.
With a superb, husky voice, Chris Ridgeway — the lead singer of Cakehole
Presley — heads up a bunch of talented musicians who twist a poetic tale
around their interesting modern take on Sixties-infused, folk-based melodies
with trippy percussion that leave you wishing they had recorded an album instead
of an EP.
The band's most recent gigs include Club Love, Cardiff; Cardiff Bay Bank Holiday
Festival; Leukaemia Benefit Event, Aberdare; Lansdowne Hotel, Cardiff; and Swell
Club, Cardiff. Throughout the rest of the summer, the band will make festival
appearances in Wales, Herefordshire, Somerset and at Festival Eye in Wiltshire.
And let's hope they head your way — you won't want to miss a beat.
• Cakehole Presley's six-track EP Cakehole
Presley is available now from Cakehole Presley's website (link below).
Tracklisting — 1 Skippin' Clouds | 2 Sweet Dreams (Little
Darlin's) | 3 Borrowed Time |
4 Me And You | 5 Gotta Know Your Name | 6 Small Ideas
Check them out at myspace.com/cakeholepresley.
"Like a naughty little cake, this band are soft and sweet; perfectly equipped
in raising a little smile, but are nothing to feel guilty about — their
music is very, very good for your hungry ears" — Quench Magazine
"Cakehole Presley — effortlessly lolloping psychedelic folk-pop with a
jangle angle. The croak in the singer's voice is a nice touch; the music is
super-stoned Summery stumble about fare and I like it. They say they are influenced
by Woody Guthrie, The Beatles, Syd Barrett and The Rolling Stones, [but] I also
detect The Lovin' Spoonful, Django Reinhardt and jazzjazzjazz..." — Bugbear
Bookings (re Hope and Anchor, London)
"With a superb, husky voice, Chris Ridgeway — the lead singer of Cakehole
Presley — heads up a bunch of talented musicians who twist a poetic tale
around their interesting modern take on Sixties-infused, folk-based melodies
with trippy percussion that leave you wishing they had recorded an album instead
of an EP" — MotorBar
"This is truly an impressive and highly enjoyable debut, marking Cakehole Presley
as ones to watch in the folk scene" — Saima Razzaq (BBC Wales)
In 2007, Cakehole Presley produced a CD, X (Cakehole Records), which
they showed to Peppermintiguana.co.uk. "As drummer Alka handed it over,
he said: 'I know it ain't your cup of tea, but see what you think.' He was right;
this album ticks none of the boxes of the sort of stuff that we usually listen
to, except one. That one box is talent. The tick in that talent box is so big
and bold it spills out and makes the other boxes irrelevant. Damn — this
is a good disc! This comes as a shock as the only other stuff we have in our
collection that comes even close to this sort of 'pop' would be Prefab Sprout,
Lloyd Cole or maybe the Pale Fountains. This is grown-up pop music of the highest
order; this is how The Beatles might have turned out if they had matured without
going down the Sgt. Pepper route [and tragically losing both John and
George]. Sharp lyrics, beautiful melodies, warm vibes… perfect pop basically!
"It is all fairly laid-back stuff and none of the more rockin' tunes from the
live set find their way onto this disc. Love features heavily throughout: 'I
don't need to be told what to do; In return I will not tell you; If anyone expects
perfection, well poor you; You've got a long wait if you do' Skippin'
Clouds tells us… Amen to that, my son! Gotta Know Your Name tells
of wanting to get to know a beautiful stranger; Me And You is a tale
of a doomed relationship and hints at the mellowness of Pink Floyd's Pigs
On The Wing. One of the best CDs we have come across for a very long time,
but we cannot really explain why and have no idea where to file it... somewhere
we can put our hands on it easily probably!" — PeppermintIguana.co.uk
