MANCHESTER’S VERY OWN PSYCH-JAZZ ODDBALLS!
Bethlehem Casuals are a group of “seven self-styled groove gremlins from the back end of Manchester” and, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably wondering why you have never heard of them before (unless you have, then I am jealous for the extra time you have had with their music in your ears). The proof is kind of in the pudding that seven heads truly are better than one, as they have been magnetising audiences with their infectiously idiosyncratic compositions, strung-out live shows and, of course, their notably laid back nature – it’s in the name.
The grooves from these guys hail from a world of different influences, and there isn’t really anything in their music that you can’t not like. What you hear at first is an almost urban folk rock, which is underpinned by funk, jazz, psychedelia, soul and pretty much anything else that you can think of.
Their latest track, ‘Change’, comes from jazz origins with disco tempo-shifts and is one of the many songs that the band have bene inspired to write that apparently follows the narrative “of a dog who is escaping a boring life to find out why there is no music left in Manchester”. You can listen to it by clicking on the single artwork below:
The track has gained some pretty impressive momentum recently, as the Casuals caught the ear of BBC 6Music tastemaker Marc Riley, who invited them in for a riotous live session, praising them as “all over the place in the best kind of way.” The past summer has also seen the septet take on a slew of festivals, hitting up Bluedot to Kendal Calling and also just, casually, making their Glastonbury debut.
If you want to catch ’em before the year is up, you can head over to Off The Record in Manchester on 15th November for what will, undoubtedly, be a good time. You can grab your tickets here.
