V11 X WORM Present: Nape Neck + Handle + Venus Tropicaux

NAPE NECK is a trio from Leeds (UK) playing post-punk that’s simultaneously tangled and taut, danceable and destructed, while resisting attempts to be easily situated as the latest addition to a specific geographic and genre-based continuum that stretches back to Gang of Four and Delta 5. Nape Neck’s knotted rhythms and the intersecting/overlapping vocals from all three band members bring to mind Scissor Girls or Erase Errata who also drew inspiration from the spiky tension of first wave UK post-punk and translated it through the more wild and free tendencies of DNA descended downtown art-noise. Clipped Morse code rhythms and sharply punctuated lyrical declarations join forces with delirious, snaking guitar and dueling vocals which push against steady bass throb and stark, calculated beats as Nape Neck walk the tightrope between chaos and calm.

Rhythm-minded clatter and clang from a trio that mutated out of the Manchester band D.U.D.S., whose particular union of scratchy dancefloor funk and taut, minimal post-punk had first been set into motion by late ’70s phonk UK firebrands like A Certain Ratio and early ’80s post-No Wave downtown dwellers like Liquid Liquid. HANDLE clearly shares some of that same genetic material, while operating with a paired down set of tools (bass, drums, keyboard, voice, no guitars) and some adventurous tendencies that give their debut LP a more distinct musical identity.

Venus Tropicaux

One of the great Rotterdam acts of the last decade, the scratchy, in yer face, sonic beat poets Venus Tropicaux return to the place they debuted (albeit in another guise), at V11. Keep on the lookout for exciting releases coming up in the new year, we may or may not have something in the works involving this band!