Hair Like Monkey, Teeth Like Dog

And now, a true story about Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.

In 1999, they did an instore performance at Virgin Megastore on Tottenham Court Road, to promote their single 'Poodle Rockin'' and being young and carefree, I went along. Later, there was a signing and when I got to meet the band, I said to their singer Euros Childs, "I really like the new video", to which he replied "...".

You see, that ellipsis indicates that whatever he said to me was masked underneath his thick Welsh accent and I had no idea what it was, so I just nodded like an idiot and thanked him for signing my copy of their excellent album 'Spanish Dance Troupe'. Later that afternoon, we bumped into (then-new) Oasis guitarist Andy Bell on Oxford Street. True story.

Gorky's, then: Fantastic late 90s Welsh indie band. Never made it into the same popularity leagues as the Manics, Super Furries, Catatonia or Stereophonics, but they were consistently great. Check out the melancholy of 'Spanish Dance Troupe' [video] or 'Hush The Warmth' [mp3 below]. And that only scratches the surface. The band split up last year.

But Mr. Childs continues to make music, and his second solo record is out tomorrow in the UK. It's filled with great melodies, catchy hooks and Euros' fantastic singing voice. It's also sung entirely in Welsh. It's called 'Bore Da', which means 'good morning' and the title track is so infectious that you won't even care that you've no idea what he's saying. Beginning jauntily but making a sharp twist later, it's really great. Listen to the equally ace 'Warrior' at Euros' myspace page.

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[download Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Hush The Warmth]
[download Euros Childs - Bore Da]