New Video: The Lovely Eggs venture into TV with new show 'Eggs TV'
There are two things in this world that are sure to make me cringe. Actually, there are far more than that, but you haven't got all day. When I say cringe, I don't mean a mild sigh - I mean a visceral, physical experience that shudders throughout my very being like I'm being possesed by the ghost of Charles Dickens. The first is when someone is drinking through a straw and they finish said drink and carry on sucking nontheless - Ugggh..it's makes my feet tingle just thinking about it - STOP DOING THAT. Just after that is when bands and artists who really should know better take about their 'brand', like they're David chuffing Beckham or something. That's actually his middle name you know.
You may have noticed that I used the word 'brand' in inverted commas. Like most people on the right side of the cultural divide, I can't stand the word. It's use in this context values art only on monetary terms - or at the very least in statistics and stats - which is the most pertinant problem with the disposable age of Content Creators we live in.
The very nature of alternatve culture has changed vastly since it's heyday of the 1990s. The music of course, remains splintered into smaller and smaller factions, whilst the very notion of genres is decided by focus groups, online algorithms and curated playlists that rarely allow for the anomalies to grasp their moment. The Lovely Eggs simply do not fit into that and that's how they like it. They have never been ones to play it by the book. However, they do read a lot of them.When your whole 'brand' is a fiercely independent take on punk, blended with elements of psych weirdness and a healthy dose of lyrical surrealism, then perhaps the next step should be to celebrate that culture in the best way you know how.
Hailing from Lancaster, Holly Ross and David Blackwell - a married couple - have been toiling away in the music industry for the best part of two decades. Both were in seperate bands around the area: David played guitar in psych garage rockers with a fierce live reputation Three Dimenional Tanx, whereas Holly sang and played guitar with her band Angelica, who were responsible for the one of the best twisted guitar pop songs of the early 21st century - the ridiculously catchy 'Why Did You Let My Kitten Die?' . Think Kenickie with a darker sense of humour. Joining forces to start The Lovely Eggs, the duo wanted to make music with no rules, but with a DIY ethic and a sense of the bizarre at the core their being.
Fast forward 15 years and you're probably aware of much of the rest. The band are staples on 6 Music and can call the likes of Iggy Pop, Stewart Lee and Gruff Rhys as fans. So what else could the band do to supplement their creative urges you might ask? The answer was glaringly obvious. Having worked with visual artist Casey Raymond for several years on their music videos and live backdrops, the next obvious step was to make a TV show - so that's what they've done.
The first episode of 'Eggs TV' was released into the wilds of Youtube today on April 6th. The result is a heady mix of the kind of alternative TV that perhaps you may have thought had been confined to the past. I can see this being commisioned for Channel 4 for a late night slot in 1996. Combining a riotous mix of music, comedy, poetry, art and animation, the show is also not short of guests willing to take part. Watch episode 1 below now - if you dare!
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In the first episode we're treated to an acoustic performance by Gruff Rhys on a mountain. He also tells us what essential items he'd take if he was living there alone. Minor Threat and Fugazi legend Ian Mackaye is interviewed and tells of the importance of a tightly packed van when going on tour. An alternative TV icon in her own right, Katie Puckrik reviews a selection of perfumes with a slightly more interesting range of smells. Artist David Shrigley takes viewers on a tour of his weird and wonderful workshop in Brighton. Punctuated throughout by small interludes of animation and comedy, it's an experience you won't forget in a hurry.
Five more episodes of the show have been produced and a new episode will be uploading every Thursday going forward. You can expect to see further cameos from the likes of Stewart Lee, Iggy Pop and Chris Packham. As the guardians of Eggland takes their first steps into the world of TV, it's only right that art is at the forefront. It may be confusing, but it's the only way that makes sense.
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