The Standards

The Standards are Neil (Vocals/Guitar/Keys) Mark (Vocals/Bass/Harp) originally from Hartlepool & Scott (Vocals/Drums/Keys) From Portsmouth United Kingdom Our new album 'A SLIGHT DISTRACTION' is out now on gatefold CD. Buy it from our website or download if you'd prefer. Our past releases are thus: OUT OF THE FIRE - EP on CD & download LIKE A HEART ATTACK - Download only single MICE (radio edit) - Download only single SLOW DOWN - FREE DOWNLOAD SINGLE YEAR BY YEAR - FREE DOWNLOAD SINGLE ALL DOWNLOADS AVAILABLE HERE (as well as other digital stores) https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/a-slight-distraction/id531496836 Full biog on our website but all you need to know for now is that we write songs and here's what others have kindly said about that fact... THE INDEPENDENT {independent band of the week} Darn catchy pop done with both vigour and method, What The Standards serve is a glimpse of a band who know how to write good music, structure it into something modern, lavish it with staggeringly kitsch guitars and package it in a way which seems wholly fresh; TOM ROBINSON - BBC 6 MUSIC The Standards are a London based trio I first saw last Summer playing a blistering set at the Green Man Festival. If you'd told me that a three-piece guitar group would blow me away with an immense, wall of sound I would have laughed in your face. But they did, they were brilliant. Q MAGAZINE... Brimful of singalongs, happy-go-lucky guitar lines and, ultimately, a healthy dose of good times for those lazy summer days. KOOBA RADIO - Jean 'Genie' Graham http://www.koobaradio.co.uk Everything about 'A Slight Distraction' is outstanding, The Standards are an awesome band. IT'S ALL HAPPENING (http://itsallhappeningmusic.blog.com) Pop needs more bands like this. Straight up exciting songs from a bunch of mates who know how to use their instruments to great effect and for great sounds. Debut album A Slight Distraction has been bubbling up inside The Standards for a while now. The sharp observations and soothing contemplations that strike through these ten songs have evolved over countless gigs and years. This means that copious influences, from life and music, abound and make the pervading genre other that of a mature and pithy gaze at life. There’s the summer fair sound of 'Resignation Waltz', the wind in the hair chorus of 'Speed Up' and the lamenting yearning of 'Drowning, When You Found Me' which breaks into a very noughties dance beat complete with oohs, and the almost 80s Romantics chord finishing off 'She Came To The City' Neil Winspear‘s voice is that of an outsider brought to the party, and the whole album is wrapped in that delicious pop gloom, a slightly off kilter reality that makes the sound tangible. Everyone from The Independent to FHM, BBC 6 to Feeling Gloomy have lent their support to The Standards, and if you like what you hear, remember to come down to It’s All Happening Fridays on October 26th at The King’s Head, Acton. PPSF - Webzine http://www.ppsf.co.uk From opening track Best Part Of The Day, it is Neil Winspear’s distinctive vocals which take ownership as he serenades you, like a retro crooner captivating and wooing all who listen. There are touches of the Jarvis Cockers and the Elvis Costellos present in his timbre, yet there is something very unique to everything he lets slip from his vocal chords. This is true of his lyrics too; wry and witty, musing and melancholy, they completely draw you in. These are quintessentially English lyrics; the choice of every word is intelligent, deliberate and engaging. This is an album chock full of carefully constructed pop songs, from a bunch of lads who seem to genuinely care about music and what they’re writing. All of this evident on my favourite song on the album, Mice. The guitars go from twinkly to jangling at just the right moments and Mark Ness’s bass combined with Scott Pragnell’s drumming drive everything along at a perfectly deliberate pace. There’s something challenging attempted on almost every song, through interesting use of backing vocals, harmonica and other rare treats. Which brings us nicely to Resignation Waltz, brilliantly strange, and what could easily be the lovechild of Pulp and Ringo Starr. Then follows the delightful Speed Up, a ditty of hooks and riffs, and simply one of the most accessible tunes on the album. Coupled together with the earlier Slow down, this is a nice outline for explaining this band; a speed up/slow down tempo is present throughout. Yet, every song flows nicely to the next, like a crashing waterfall eventually flows into an ominously quiet river. This is all possible through a purposeful and thoughtful production which churns out a proper album, not just a showcase for an assortment of songs thrown together. There are lots of sing-a-long choruses present too, and infectious melodies to get stuck in your head, but there are one or two tracks which leave you hoping that the band could go somewhere darker. A Piece Of The Action, touches on this, and songs with the feel of something dirty and a little bit sleazier could certainly serve this band well in the future, and give them a back catalogue that makes them stand out from the crowd. See Drowning When You Found Me, for the best examples of what they do spectacularly well. And without meaning to be cheap, what you have in these ten tracks is way more than a slight distraction, and definitely worth a listen. 8/10 GLASSWERK.CO.UK... It’s all rather too perfect and a phenomenal pop song, done by a band who seem so far removed from pop music. Confusingly brilliant, it’s a great debut. TOM HOCKNELL - ROCKFEEDBACK (review for 'Out of the Fire' e.p) Leading in with the twitchiest guitar line since, well, Girls Aloud, the Standards emerge from our Future Sounds column into the fray, with hooks aplenty for any girl group with half an ear between them. With its chanting demand of ‘Don’t mystify or vilify me’, this proves that all the good songs are not already written. With tight harmonies and clocking in perfectly at 3 minutes this sounds simultaneously out of time and on the money; with a chorus made for the Queen Vic. 'Already There’ sounds unsettlingly classic. Are they sure this one has not been written before? TOM HOCKNELL ROCKFEEDBACK 4/5 NEW BEATS MEDIA There's no posing or pretention with this The London trio, a fact that they are clearly proud of and showcase extensively on their latest single. Not trying to reinvent the wheel or ape their musical idols, the band instead focus on crafting solid, entertaining tunes. 'Like a Heart Attack' is such a track, all spiky guitar verses that burst into a souring chorus with one hell of a catchy refrain that sticks in your head from the first listen. In short The Standards have delivered a classic slice of catchy, danceable Indie pop and a solid indication of good things yet to come. www.the-standards.co.uk Debut album 'A Slight Distraction' out now on itunes and all the usual suspects https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/a-slight-distraction/id531496836