“WITH THAT KNIFE are really the stars of the show tonight. With the stage rammed full of band members and cables, it looks like someone’s going to drop off the plinth at any moment. But as soon as the band start up they turn into a well oiled machine. The dual vocals of guitarists Mike and Owen are fantastic, individually so different but superbly harmonised.
The bass and the drums sound so pristine I could close my eyes and be totally convinced by their slick and robust pulses – the band sound so powerful I feel like they could fill the Apollo with this wall of sound.
With That Knife are the first this evening to play music that actually makes me want to dance. I can’t help myself but my head is nodding and my toes tapping. The riffs and melodies are infectiously enjoyable. The use of the synth and effects on the lead vocals creates fabulous highlights and it definitely gives the band an edge that separates them from the masses.
The different vocalists are perfect for each song, everything simply seems to melt together to create a full, round sound with no obvious flaws or breaks. The tracks are comfortably self-indulgent – the ease with which the bands shift from melody to melody over each track shows a technical ability without any arrogance or attitude. This band have got everything just right …” manchestermusic.co.uk
“the talent and cohesiveness is just plain jaw-dropping…Delightful basslines and riffs combine with snth created noise and kickass drumbeats all amidst any of 4 vocalists letting loose, making for some splendid sounds indeed.” Second City
“Manchester-based With That Knife met together at Salford University four years ago but have only really started “making a go of it”- guitarist Owen’s words- in the last eighteen months, with a settled five piece line-up drawn from Reading to Blackpool. Perhaps then this is why With That Knife sound as far away from the stereotypical “Manchester band” as you could hope to get. Instead they seem to draw from an eclectic range of influences and construct them together like a puzzle; think Foals, but Foals jamming with At The Drive-In riffs, or The Clash’s brash punk energy but played over the top of LCD Soundsystem’s rhythms. They describe their sound as “quite danceable but with proper songs. Interesting yet energetic…[we like to] pick and choose from lots of different styles”. This certainly rings true, as frenetic punk can lead off into slow, atmospheric post-rock or just as likely volte face into hook-laden electronica rhythms; that they can hold all these ideas together without sounding overly jerky or schizophrenic is nothing short of impressive.
With That Knife are currently putting the finishing touches on their as yet untitled debut EP and aim to tour in the upcoming months after a 2008 which saw promotional work for the likes of XFM and Channel M (Manchester’s regional TV channel). Any record deal would be “amazing, but we’re well aware that is extremely rare, and for the moment we’re happy on our own.” A cliché maybe, but With That Knife truly seem a group that are ‘in it for the music’, and their output seems something that they truly believe in; the next twelve months promises to be an interesting time for the five piece.” God is in the TV
“ALL five members of Manchester art-punkers With That Knife are gathered around a pub jukebox grappling with one another; arms and fists swinging in order to view the jukebox screen and make their song choices.
You sense violence and bloodshed may occur if a voice of diplomatic reason doesn’t step in and maintain some peace and order. And let’s not forget that this band are named With That Knife….
Thankfully, there’s no outbreak of further violence. That’s because this raucous jukebox scene is simply a rather elaborate photo opportunity set up by our CityLife photographer. Phew, crisis averted.
However, there is a hint of truth to the photograph you see accompanying this article – indeed, With That Knife might not be brutal fighting types, but they most certainly are a five-headed art-punk beast.
Game of scrabble
And those five heads have been known to battle to make their voices heard.
“It’s not like we get violent and start fighting,” laughs With That Knife singer/guitarist Owen Barratt.
“But this band has such a big mix of songwriting personalities. We have four singers, and everyone contributes to the songwriting process.
”We do have quite a few arguments in our rehearsal room. But it never gets too heated. We’re not really the fighting type. We’re more likely to settle a debate over a good old game of Scrabble.”
Righteous punk anger
Indeed. The most accurate description of With That Knife might be to call them a Manchester version of At The Drive-In. Their songs, a heady mix of hardcore, electronics and post-punk rhythms, are vicious, visceral and booming with righteous punk anger.
But With That Knife are Manchester punk heroes disguised as somewhat nerdy students.
Their appearance might be best described as ‘shabby student chic’, but even that sounds disrespectful to your average undergraduate.
Singer Owen confesses to a secret past of playing fantasy war-games, while guitarist Ed Bottomley is an obsessive fan of Inspector Morse and its spin-off show Lewis (“the new series is genius,” he says of the latter).
Moreover, the band’s website is full of meticulous blog entries, detailing such epochal events as the time when drummer Mike started “growing a cowboy beard.”
Aura of geekiness
“We are a bit geeky,” smiles Owen. “But underneath that geeky exterior, I think there’s a real punk rock monster bursting to jump out.”
The group’s formation has a definite aura of geekiness about it.
Formed just over a year ago, With That Knife have their origins at Salford University, when all five members – Owen and Ed, joined by drummer Mike Hawkins, bassist Rich Wassall and Wes Tastard on synths – studied on the Popular Music degree course (“it seems to be like the starting school for so many Manchester bands,” says Ed).
But it wasn’t exactly academic pursuits which first brought them together.
Virtuoso musicality
“I drunkenly accosted Ed at the Salford student indie night,” sighs a slightly shamed Owen. “I was so drunk. I remember Ed talking about how he was a great saxophone player. And I was talking about ska bands.
”But we somehow we met in the middle and the conversation moved onto forming a band.”
From ska interests to saxophone talents, With That Knife’s greatest strength is surely their odd mixture of virtuoso musicality.
As expected of a band comprising five music graduates (one of whom really is a saxophonist), here is a band who shun beer-soaked indie-rock for more intricate, artful musical endeavour.
Unreconstructed rockers
Ostensibly, With That Knife are unreconstructed rockers in the At The Drive-In sense; but their mini-punk symphonies also make plenty of room for deranged drum rhythms, crashing electronics and four (count ‘em) vocal harmonies all battling for attention.
As many of their reviews have pointed out, With That Knife are less of a coherent band, more a case of five distinct musical voices wrestling to make themselves heard.
“It’s definitely our aim to make something that’s quite challenging and intelligent,” insists Ed. “When we first started out, we were making music that was quite simple, and indie-pop.
”We had to ask ourselves: ‘do we really want to make the sort of awful indie music that gets played in 5th Avenue?’. The answer was a big fat ‘no’.”
Girls Aloud
“The last thing Manchester needs is more awful indie bands like The Vortex,” adds a rather more pugnacious Owen. “We want to be the very opposite of awful bands like that.
”Our aim is to write pop songs but make them challenging and full of depth. We’re often compared to Bloc Party in reviews, but we’d rather listen to Alphabeat or Girls Aloud.”
Time will tell whether With That Knife shed their geekish exterior and properly embrace their inner punk personas.
Their latest studio recordings seem to suggest major progress: bagging them record label interest, plus headline shows at top notch underground night WotGodForgot (“the best band night in Manchester – it’s the only place where you’ll find bands who really push the boundaries,” enthuses Ed).
Nefarious rock’n’roll animals
However, the band’s recent appearance at a music festival does suggest there’s still work to be done if they want to be taken seriously as nefarious rock’n’roll animals.
“We won a competition to play the Wakestock festival,” Ed excitedly recalls. “It was our first major festival, and we got backstage access and everything. It was pretty amazing. There were even pole-dancing girls!
”But we were more interested in the free food – there was free falafel. I think that sums this band up. We’ll go for falafel over naked pole-dancing girls every time.” City Life Magazine
Reviews
Manchester Music
“WITH THAT KNIFE are really the stars of the show tonight. With the stage rammed full of band members and cables, it looks like someone’s going to drop off the plinth at any moment. But as soon as the band start up they turn into a well oiled machine. The dual vocals of guitarists Mike and Owen are fantastic, individually so different but superbly harmonised.
The bass and the drums sound so pristine I could close my eyes and be totally convinced by their slick and robust pulses – the band sound so powerful I feel like they could fill the Apollo with this wall of sound.
With That Knife are the first this evening to play music that actually makes me want to dance. I can’t help myself but my head is nodding and my toes tapping. The riffs and melodies are infectiously enjoyable. The use of the synth and effects on the lead vocals creates fabulous highlights and it definitely gives the band an edge that separates them from the masses.
The different vocalists are perfect for each song, everything simply seems to melt together to create a full, round sound with no obvious flaws or breaks. The tracks are comfortably self-indulgent – the ease with which the bands shift from melody to melody over each track shows a technical ability without any arrogance or attitude. This band have got everything just right …” manchestermusic.co.uk
Second City
“the talent and cohesiveness is just plain jaw-dropping…Delightful basslines and riffs combine with snth created noise and kickass drumbeats all amidst any of 4 vocalists letting loose, making for some splendid sounds indeed.” Second City
God is in the TV
“Manchester-based With That Knife met together at Salford University four years ago but have only really started “making a go of it”- guitarist Owen’s words- in the last eighteen months, with a settled five piece line-up drawn from Reading to Blackpool. Perhaps then this is why With That Knife sound as far away from the stereotypical “Manchester band” as you could hope to get. Instead they seem to draw from an eclectic range of influences and construct them together like a puzzle; think Foals, but Foals jamming with At The Drive-In riffs, or The Clash’s brash punk energy but played over the top of LCD Soundsystem’s rhythms. They describe their sound as “quite danceable but with proper songs. Interesting yet energetic…[we like to] pick and choose from lots of different styles”. This certainly rings true, as frenetic punk can lead off into slow, atmospheric post-rock or just as likely volte face into hook-laden electronica rhythms; that they can hold all these ideas together without sounding overly jerky or schizophrenic is nothing short of impressive.
With That Knife are currently putting the finishing touches on their as yet untitled debut EP and aim to tour in the upcoming months after a 2008 which saw promotional work for the likes of XFM and Channel M (Manchester’s regional TV channel). Any record deal would be “amazing, but we’re well aware that is extremely rare, and for the moment we’re happy on our own.” A cliché maybe, but With That Knife truly seem a group that are ‘in it for the music’, and their output seems something that they truly believe in; the next twelve months promises to be an interesting time for the five piece.” God is in the TV
Manchester Evening News – City Life
“ALL five members of Manchester art-punkers With That Knife are gathered around a pub jukebox grappling with one another; arms and fists swinging in order to view the jukebox screen and make their song choices.
You sense violence and bloodshed may occur if a voice of diplomatic reason doesn’t step in and maintain some peace and order. And let’s not forget that this band are named With That Knife….
Thankfully, there’s no outbreak of further violence. That’s because this raucous jukebox scene is simply a rather elaborate photo opportunity set up by our CityLife photographer. Phew, crisis averted.
However, there is a hint of truth to the photograph you see accompanying this article – indeed, With That Knife might not be brutal fighting types, but they most certainly are a five-headed art-punk beast.
Game of scrabble
And those five heads have been known to battle to make their voices heard.
“It’s not like we get violent and start fighting,” laughs With That Knife singer/guitarist Owen Barratt.
“But this band has such a big mix of songwriting personalities. We have four singers, and everyone contributes to the songwriting process.
”We do have quite a few arguments in our rehearsal room. But it never gets too heated. We’re not really the fighting type. We’re more likely to settle a debate over a good old game of Scrabble.”
Righteous punk anger
Indeed. The most accurate description of With That Knife might be to call them a Manchester version of At The Drive-In. Their songs, a heady mix of hardcore, electronics and post-punk rhythms, are vicious, visceral and booming with righteous punk anger.
But With That Knife are Manchester punk heroes disguised as somewhat nerdy students.
Their appearance might be best described as ‘shabby student chic’, but even that sounds disrespectful to your average undergraduate.
Singer Owen confesses to a secret past of playing fantasy war-games, while guitarist Ed Bottomley is an obsessive fan of Inspector Morse and its spin-off show Lewis (“the new series is genius,” he says of the latter).
Moreover, the band’s website is full of meticulous blog entries, detailing such epochal events as the time when drummer Mike started “growing a cowboy beard.”
Aura of geekiness
“We are a bit geeky,” smiles Owen. “But underneath that geeky exterior, I think there’s a real punk rock monster bursting to jump out.”
The group’s formation has a definite aura of geekiness about it.
Formed just over a year ago, With That Knife have their origins at Salford University, when all five members – Owen and Ed, joined by drummer Mike Hawkins, bassist Rich Wassall and Wes Tastard on synths – studied on the Popular Music degree course (“it seems to be like the starting school for so many Manchester bands,” says Ed).
But it wasn’t exactly academic pursuits which first brought them together.
Virtuoso musicality
“I drunkenly accosted Ed at the Salford student indie night,” sighs a slightly shamed Owen. “I was so drunk. I remember Ed talking about how he was a great saxophone player. And I was talking about ska bands.
”But we somehow we met in the middle and the conversation moved onto forming a band.”
From ska interests to saxophone talents, With That Knife’s greatest strength is surely their odd mixture of virtuoso musicality.
As expected of a band comprising five music graduates (one of whom really is a saxophonist), here is a band who shun beer-soaked indie-rock for more intricate, artful musical endeavour.
Unreconstructed rockers
Ostensibly, With That Knife are unreconstructed rockers in the At The Drive-In sense; but their mini-punk symphonies also make plenty of room for deranged drum rhythms, crashing electronics and four (count ‘em) vocal harmonies all battling for attention.
As many of their reviews have pointed out, With That Knife are less of a coherent band, more a case of five distinct musical voices wrestling to make themselves heard.
“It’s definitely our aim to make something that’s quite challenging and intelligent,” insists Ed. “When we first started out, we were making music that was quite simple, and indie-pop.
”We had to ask ourselves: ‘do we really want to make the sort of awful indie music that gets played in 5th Avenue?’. The answer was a big fat ‘no’.”
Girls Aloud
“The last thing Manchester needs is more awful indie bands like The Vortex,” adds a rather more pugnacious Owen. “We want to be the very opposite of awful bands like that.
”Our aim is to write pop songs but make them challenging and full of depth. We’re often compared to Bloc Party in reviews, but we’d rather listen to Alphabeat or Girls Aloud.”
Time will tell whether With That Knife shed their geekish exterior and properly embrace their inner punk personas.
Their latest studio recordings seem to suggest major progress: bagging them record label interest, plus headline shows at top notch underground night WotGodForgot (“the best band night in Manchester – it’s the only place where you’ll find bands who really push the boundaries,” enthuses Ed).
Nefarious rock’n’roll animals
However, the band’s recent appearance at a music festival does suggest there’s still work to be done if they want to be taken seriously as nefarious rock’n’roll animals.
“We won a competition to play the Wakestock festival,” Ed excitedly recalls. “It was our first major festival, and we got backstage access and everything. It was pretty amazing. There were even pole-dancing girls!
”But we were more interested in the free food – there was free falafel. I think that sums this band up. We’ll go for falafel over naked pole-dancing girls every time.”
City Life Magazine