The Penny Black Remedy
Encyclopedia
The Penny Black Remedy is a London
-based band playing a mix of Country
, Ska
, Folk
and Punk
with a Balkan edge and are linked to the UK's gypsy punk
scene.
The group has broad international origins and is led by Scottish singer/songwriter/guitarist Keith M Thomson, with Croatia
n classically trained vocalist Marijana Hajdarhodzic, drummer Wilco van Eijk from The Netherlands
and bassist Steve Nelson from England. The band's live act often also includes saxophonist Thomas 'Tmag' Maguire from London Ska Punk
band Danny Fontaine and the Horns of Fury.
The Penny Black Remedy received the Gibson
Guitar Best Alternative
Act award at the 2008 UK Indy Awards.
They released their first album No One's Fault But Your Own in Spring 2009. The album was recorded in Zagreb
, Croatia. They announced a global distribution deal with Cadiz Music in November 2009.
The band’s name refers to a pub in Edinburgh called The Penny Black, which opened at the unusually early time of 5am.
The songs draw on dark humour and absurdity, often dealing with drinking and death, whilst having memorable sing-a-long choruses, which result in rowdy live shows.
Extensive touring in the UK and throughout the band members' homelands of the Netherlands and Croatia, as well sold out residencies at London's legendary venue The 12 Bar Club, have seen the group gather an enthusiastic hardcore following. This has resulted in summer festival appearances scheduled for 2010, including at Glastonbury.
The Guardian newspaper's review of their single I Won't Argue When I'm Dead claimed it was "Quite simply, the finest country sing-along I've heard on the vexed pop topic of how one's body should be disposed of after death."
Thomson has pointed to the dedication of their fans being the result of the band's slightly unusual humour mixed with harking back to a traditional, almost old-fashioned take on live music gatherings: "The fact that most of my songs are about death, lost love, brothels or just trying to live in a constant state of crippling paranoid fear and cope with the daily grind of everyday life is irrelevant. If anything, encouraging people to sing loudly and out of tune about the absurdity of general existence seems to instil a sense of comfort and unity. I think."
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based band playing a mix of Country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, Ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, Folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and Punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
with a Balkan edge and are linked to the UK's gypsy punk
Gypsy punk
Gypsy punk is the term used to describe a hybrid musical genre that crosses traditional Romani music with punk rock. The origin of the term is unknown, but bands playing Gypsy punk have existed at least since the 1990s. One of the first rock groups to incorporate elements of punk and Eastern...
scene.
The group has broad international origins and is led by Scottish singer/songwriter/guitarist Keith M Thomson, with Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n classically trained vocalist Marijana Hajdarhodzic, drummer Wilco van Eijk from The Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and bassist Steve Nelson from England. The band's live act often also includes saxophonist Thomas 'Tmag' Maguire from London Ska Punk
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
band Danny Fontaine and the Horns of Fury.
The Penny Black Remedy received the Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
Guitar Best Alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
Act award at the 2008 UK Indy Awards.
They released their first album No One's Fault But Your Own in Spring 2009. The album was recorded in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, Croatia. They announced a global distribution deal with Cadiz Music in November 2009.
The band’s name refers to a pub in Edinburgh called The Penny Black, which opened at the unusually early time of 5am.
The songs draw on dark humour and absurdity, often dealing with drinking and death, whilst having memorable sing-a-long choruses, which result in rowdy live shows.
Extensive touring in the UK and throughout the band members' homelands of the Netherlands and Croatia, as well sold out residencies at London's legendary venue The 12 Bar Club, have seen the group gather an enthusiastic hardcore following. This has resulted in summer festival appearances scheduled for 2010, including at Glastonbury.
The Guardian newspaper's review of their single I Won't Argue When I'm Dead claimed it was "Quite simply, the finest country sing-along I've heard on the vexed pop topic of how one's body should be disposed of after death."
Thomson has pointed to the dedication of their fans being the result of the band's slightly unusual humour mixed with harking back to a traditional, almost old-fashioned take on live music gatherings: "The fact that most of my songs are about death, lost love, brothels or just trying to live in a constant state of crippling paranoid fear and cope with the daily grind of everyday life is irrelevant. If anything, encouraging people to sing loudly and out of tune about the absurdity of general existence seems to instil a sense of comfort and unity. I think."
Band members
- Keith M Thomson - Vocals, GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, HarmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Marijana Hajdarhodzic - Vocals, Percussion
- Steve Nelson - BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Vocals - Wilco van Eijk - DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, Vocals - Thomas 'Tmag' Maguire - SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...