THE AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN
Bio:
The Afternoon Gentlemen began in 2007. Notorious local throat-shredder, beer-guzzler and grind-monger Rich joined up with ex-L.B.W members Smith, Barthur and Bear, with the intention of starting a non-serious grindcore band. The Afternoon Gentlemen continued from where L.B.W had left off, albeit with a slimmed-down line-up and a new band theme of vagrancy, alcoholism and homelessness replacing the previous obsession with Cricket ('Afternoon Gentlemen' being a euphemism for tramps or drunkards). Original guitarist Bear relocated to his hometown Bradley and Warboys bassist Mick (aka Oily Groico) stepped in on guitar. By the end of 2007 the Afternoon Gentlemen had unleashed splits with Leeds-based grind violence champions Warboys and obscure cult doom abomination Khunnt. This was quickly followed by the 'No messin' about style' EP, another home-recorded self-released CD-R, in keeping with the bands DIY ethic. These releases cemented the band's sound, which had developed into an eccentric mix of old school grind, slow sludgy sections, and strong power-violence and crust/hardcore influences.
Since then T.A.G have played live over 150 times, with bands such as Capitalist Casualties, Magrudergrind, Brutal Truth, Weekend Nachos, Eyehategod, Napalm Death, Insect Warfare, Nails, Suffering Mind and many more. In 2008 Keep Screaming records released a 30-track pro-tape containing the first 3 CD-R releases plus live tracks and songs from the UK Death feast comp (`White Cider Chronicles` tape). Also released in `08 was the 'European Fastness' 5-way split CD, featuring 9 tracks from The Afternoon Gentlemen, plus music by Ocksen, Ablach, Xaros, and A Den of Robbers, and the self-released 'Afterdoom' EP, a specially packaged limited 3-track doom CD.
In March 2009 the band went to a 'proper' studio (Silent City) for the first time to record the debut 7" EP 'Pissed Again' (16 tracks/5 labels). This was released in January 2010 followed by an 11-date UK tour. The 7" received good reviews thanks to the improved quality of the recording and the excellent artwork courtesy of our friends Moving Parts Collective. After plenty more UK gigs the Gents went to the studio again in the summer, then headed off for our first European tour starting off at Bloodshed Fest NL, going through Germany, Czech Republic, France, and finishing in the UK with Weekend Nachos. The year ended with a pre-Xmas trip to London, Lille Winter Grindfest and a splendid birthday party in Ypress, Belgium.
In 2011 came the next installment of the saga, with The Afternoon Gentlemen sharing a 7" with mighty East Vancouver blasters OSK. This was released by Active Rebellion (UK), Dead Heroes Brothers (UK), Just Say No! records (Can), Rawer Breath records (Can), and Undislessed records (Fra). In summer that year the Gents did a three week US tour of the Mid-West and West coast with the equally lovely and crushing Weekend Nachos, and to coincide with this RSR released The Afternoon Gentlemen/Cyborg split 7", Cyborg being a side-project of Weekend Nachos members (plus the inimitable Tim Smith on guitar/vocals). Once again Moving Parts Collective provided the outrageous artwork for the record sleeve. Almost immediately after that the Gents went to Europe for a three week tour with Boston HC veterans Psycho, ending with a raucous early-morning set at Obscene Extreme festival in Czech Republic. The summer of 2011 also yielded two more releases, `The White Cider Chronicles part II` tape (Keep Screaming recs) and `Pissedography`CD (Give Praise recs), both of which collect all of The Afternoon Gentlemen`s studio recordings. The frenzied year`s activities continued with the band heading straight to the studio after touring to record 16 new tracks with the esteemed Mr Rob Hobson (Silent City studios), some of which will feature on the forthcoming split 7" with French stop-and-go grind geniuses Chiens. This will be coming out on Give Praise recs, Dead Heroes Bros recs and other DIY labels tba. For the meantime though the Gents have been reduced to weary corpses by all these goings-on, so nothing more remains than for them to crawl back inside their cardboard boxes with a good old bottle of you-know-what.
The Afternoon Gentlemen @ Bandcamp
The Afternoon Gentlemen @ Facebook