Gorky's Zygotic Mynci were formed in the mid to late 80s at a school in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, by 3 friends, Euros Childs, John Lawrence and Richard James. They shared a liking for Kevin Ayers and 60s folk music, the former fact eventually resulting in various Soft Machine cover versions. After spending their teenage years making tapes in euros' bedroom, the trio added Childs' olders sister Megan on violin and Euros Rowlands on drums to the lineup. John and Richard played guitar and bass, whilst Euros played piano and keyboards and sung. The groups principle songwriters were John and Euros, and the songs were melodic and psychedelic. Unlike many other bands at the time, Gorky's music was led by piano and violin, rather than guitar, therefore enabling John Lawrence to play various instruments including jews harp and trombone. Experimental and sung completely in Welsh, their debut album Patio failed to make much of an impact, but was critically acclaimed by those who noticed it, and was later re-released in 1994 with 9 extra tracks. The album followed early singles and eps, which were then compiled and released 5 years later as Introducing Gorky's Zygotic Mynci which was released in the USA in 1996. Between Patio and Introducing came 2 more albums of delightful pop music, Tatay and Bwyd Time. Bwyd Time especially saw the band developing a more bilingual approach to music, as many songs were also sung in English. The album went straight to number 1 in the independent charts in britain, and was hailed as ground breaking by critics. America was starting to wake up to this superb new band from wales, and Introducing gave the band a snall but dedicated fanbase on the other side of the pond. Their next album was a more mellow affair than the first ones, but the psychedelic side of things was not lost as songs such as Meirion Wyllt proved. The album was called Barafundle, and is still considered their greatest so far. It includes the legendary single Patio Song and the American version features the single Young Girls
and Happy Endings, which criticizes the music industry. Maybe this contributed to their being dropped by Mercury Records after just one album for them (the previous releases being on the Welsh indie label Ankst). The band were left without a deal on the eve of the release of their 5th proper album, Gorky 5. Almost all of it's songs were sung in english, and were much slower than other previous tunes. Nevertheless, it was a record of true beauty, and showed influences like The Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention. Sweet Johnny and Lets Get Together also displayed their talent of writing mainstream pop music with a twist. The band was then signed by Fontana, and recorded Spanish Dance Troupe in spring of 1999. Guitarist and founding member then amicably left the band because they weren't weird enough anymore, and formed Infinity Chimps, an electronica band who are nowhere near as good as GZM. Spanish Dance Troupe was preceded by a single of the same name, and both were superbly recieved by press and public alike. A new single, poodle rockin', was released in february 2000, and the Mynci 2000 tour followed. This tour featured 2 sets, one sitting down and acoustic, the other being a full electric set. A sequel to the tour took place in may. Former Ffa Coffi Pawb (the proto-Super Furry Animals) guitarist Rhodri Puw joined the band to replace Lawrence, and the band are planning to release a mini album in november. Hopefully the album will be a return to the early days as psychedelic wizards of Wales rather than the folkier side of things shown on the last 2 albums, but either way, I will certainly buy it, as they are probably the best band ever and we should treasure them.
Bio written by: anon |
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