There is a phrase that gets used about Tape Error’s music that has stuck: “nightmare lullabies.” It is not a comfortable description, but it is an accurate one. The songs of Chris Austin — the songwriter and guitarist at the heart of this Medway-based band — have a particular quality to them: intimate and unsettling in equal measure, built from acoustic textures and layered vocal harmonies, recorded with the kind of minimal means that forces everything back onto the writing itself.
Perfect Conditions For A Cure is Tape Error‘s debut EP, released today on Dancing Turtle Records. Four tracks that introduce the band to anyone who hasn’t yet had the pleasure. Austin has played with Kid Harpoon and Lupen Crook, and fronted bands including Hospital Bombers and Burn Paper Tigers, honing a voice that is distinctly his own. The Medway towns have a remarkable track record for producing unconventional talent. Tape Error are the latest addition to that lineage.
The band — Austin on guitar and vocals, Matt Bell on bass, Stan Read on drums and David Hughes on guitar — record with the discipline of a single microphone, and the results feel immediate and deeply personal. There is nothing between the listener and the songs.
Perfect Conditions For A Cure is available now via the Dancing Turtle shop and all streaming platforms.
