Lord Auch – ‘To The S**t House’

Taking their name from a pseudonym of French essayist, and all round salacious scholar, Georges Bataille; Lord Auch are Simon McCabe (vocals/bass), Danny Prescott (drums), and guitarist Liam W. Originally, stalwarts of Leeds burgeoning band scene, Simon and Danny were members of art-rock cult-heroes Blackwire, though, as many good things do, the band came to a natural end in 2006. Never overly sentimental, the pair swapped their Yorkshire pastures for the sin and shadow of London’s East End. A night of debate, debauchery and Jack Daniels ensued and saw the duo find a like minded third, in the shape of ex-Courtney Love guitarist Liam W in September 2007.

Now a trio, the three readily embarked upon their quest to make and master what has been dubbed ‘paranoid pop’; a combination of fifties rock’n'roll with a twist of folk and a healthy dose of euphoric, resonant gloom added for good measure. Taking influence and inspiration from the work of Nick Cave, The Birthday Party, Johnny Cash and Scott Walker alike, something wonderfully macabre in landscape and melodic in rhythm and texture began to emerge.

Like Bataille before them, Lord Auch craft songs that touch on sex, love, the absurd, observation, death and power.  However, where other bands begin to become overly esoteric, our trio never lose sight of their Machiavellian sense of fun and dry wit, readdressing the balance with their twisted cover of power-pop, disco diva’s Kelly Marie’s ‘Feels Like I’m In Love’!

Barely three months old, Lord Auch decided it was time to trial their wares with a debut live show at Barden’s Boudoir in December 2007.  An appreciative in-crowd welcomed the band’s baptism, and the gig, rather splendidly, ended in the band securing a singles deal with trusted, indie taste-makers Young and Lost Club. Home to the likes of Golden Silvers to Noah and The Whale, Young and Lost has proved a perfect home for the band with their limited edition singles ‘The Dig Inn/Grassfingers’ (released: May 2008) and ‘Maredo’ (released: January 2009) selling out to a fanfare of critical acclaim, strong press, tastemaker radio play and a national tour alongside lauded label mates Noah and the Whale.

Gigging the length and breadth of the UK and racking up a rather impressive list of support slots with the likes of Dirty Pretty Things, The Duke Spirit, Ipso Facto,  S.C.U.M, Yeasayer and The Gossip, the band’s popularity and self confidence has continued to grow, culminating in their own sold out headline shows and festival slots.

Which brings us to the appearance of the marvellous single EP ‘To The Shit House’ available on limited edition 12″ vinyl/download  on Young and Lost Club. We’re trying to get you a free track from them. We’ll post it up here when we get it.