An Intimate Evening With Great Cynics
Three piece punk outfit Great Cynics have been putting out infectious hazy pop vibes for a while now. Their latest album 'I Feel Weird' came out mid last year and proved to be the best example to date of the energy at force behind the music of vocalist/guitarist Giles Bidder, vocalist/bassist Iona Cairns and drummer Bob Barrett. There's a relentless optimism in all that the band do, and this undoubtedly extends to the dynamism at play between members.
Great Cynics are currently on an extensive UK and European tour with Jeff Rosenstock, and I was fortunate enough to catch the band at an intimate set at Santiagos Bar in Leeds on Good Friday. Having last seen the band not too long ago supporting Tigers Jaw and Foxing at fellow Leeds venue, Brudenell Social Club in August of last year, it's great to have the three piece back.
There's an enthralling enigma with which Great Cynics play - something of a sweet irony given the subject matter behind their latest album. Catching up with Bob and Giles after the show, we discuss the emotional driving force behind 'I Feel Weird' and what it's like to be a 20-something now. The band are admirably enthusiastic about their music, which comes across wholeheartedly in their live performances. Talking about the importance of independent venues and of music in general, Great Cynics come across as being completely at home in the setting of Santiagos Bar, yet the quality of their sound proves that they’re no less capable of fully engaging larger capacities (as, for example, from experiencing the band play at Brudenell Social Club).
In the same way that listening to ‘I Feel Weird’ brightens up a dark day, leaving the show in Leeds on Good Friday puts a spring in my step that the stresses of everyday life failed to dampen. The conversation with Bob and Giles below has that effect too.
