MANHATTAN LOVE SUICIDES (the) : Look Who's Coming To Town

2016-RELEASES

'Look Who's Coming To Town (Please Let It Snow)', an original, sounds like the script of a 1960s horror movie, but of the kind that you only find in that dusty cult video store somewhere in a dark alley of a mediumsized city. The song is an angry sounding snarling creature which picks up where the recent single 'Bikini Party / Birthday Kill' left off, and brings both The Primitives and Sonic Youth to mind. Listen to the song, and find out who is coming to town and why it is so important that it will snow.

For the B-side, the band turn Elmo and Patsy's classic 1979 Christmas novelty 'Grandma Got Runover By A Reindeer' in an echo-drenched murder ballad, with instead of the loud uptempo guitars of the A-side of the single, subtile melodic guitar playing, which gives the song more of a pop sensibility, but pop with a distinct raw edge.

The Manhattan Love Suicides was formed in 2006 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by Darren Lockwood and Caroline McChrystal, who also played together in the local band Pop Threat and ran the indie label Squirrel Records. Joined by bass player Adam John Miller and drummer Eddy Limes (after a year replaced by Rachel Barker), and taking their name from a short 1985 film by Richard Kern, the Manhattan Love Suicides released their self-titled debut album later that year, the CD version on Magic Marker Records, and the vinyl version on Squirrel Records Musically, the band cited The Velvet Underground and The Jesus & Mary Chain as import influences – just as these bands, the band members mainly dressed in black and wore dark sunglasses –, but also bands like The Primitives and The Shop Assistants come to mind when listening to the band's music, not in the least because of Caroline's vocals. For their lyrics and artwork, the Manhattan Love Suicides take their inspiration from obscure B-movies from days long gone. Up until 2009, the band released a string of 7” singles, that were compiled in 2008 on 'Burnt Out Landscapes'. After the split-up of the band in 2009, Darren and Caroline continued in the Blanche Hudson Weekend. In 2013, the Manhattan Love Suicides reformed and the band started gigging again. In 2015, Odd Box Records released the second album of the band, 'More Heat! More Panic!', and early 2016 a new single, 'Bikini Party, Birthday Kill'.