Great Cynics Cover The Menzingers

Check out Great Cynics performing a cover of The Menzingers' "I Was Born", which can be streamed below.

Great Cynics Release "In The Valley" Music Video

Great Cynics have released their official music video for, "In The Valley", which can be viewed by clicking read more.

ATP! Track By Track Exclusive: Great Cynics - "In The Valley"

To celebrate the release of Great Cynics' new EP, "In The Valley", we're pleased to present a special track by track guide written by frontman Giles Bidder.

The three-piece will release their new record on February 28th through Kind Of Like Records.

Great Cynics Stream New EP "In The Valley"

Great Cynics' new EP "In The Valley", can be streamed in its entirety here.

Great Cynics Release New Song "14 Coleman St."

Great Cynics have released a new song, "14 Coleman St.", which can be streamed here.

Album Review: Great Cynics - In The Valley EP

And then there were three. It can't have been much more than a year or so ago that the three-song EP by the artist formerly-known as Cynics was reviewed by Alter The Press. The consensus was distinctly related to the sound reminiscent to Against Me's very olden days with something of a youthful British vibe. The band's tripling in size has enabled them to re-work and generally amplify the tracks and inject them with some revivifying juices. The "pub-anthem" aura is still there, only it's backed up by some bouncy bass, uncomplicated drumming and healthy doses of female vocals.

"In The Valley" becomes a short driver of a song packed with hopeful lyrics and vocals that really make it stand out like never before. At first, "14 Coleman St" comes off as something of a middle-of-the-road pub-punk song whose lyrics slowly inject more emotion as the track progresses, but the band hit great with final track "You're Alright". It's previous acoustic counterpart was a sweet and heartfelt sing-along and its even more compelling with the band's new electric sound, in fact the truly emotional crescendo of a finale is only amplified by the band's capacity to truly flesh out the rock within.

Great Cynics Announce New "In The Valley" EP

Great Cynics have announced they will release their new EP, "In The Valley", on February 28th through Kind Of Like Records.

Great Cynics Release New Song "In The Valley"

Great Cynics have released a new song, "In The Valley", which can be streamed by clicking read more.

ATP! Acoustic Session: Great Cynics

Alter The Press recently caught up Giles Bidder of London's own, Great Cynics to record an acoustic session.

Giles performed the track, 'Moorhen', taken from the band's recently released album, 'Don't Need Much'.

Kind Of Like Records Release Free Sampler

To celebrate five vinyl and CD releases since opening it's doors in 2010, including the recently released 'Domesplitter' from party-punk band Direct Hit!, the label has also posted a free sampler to bring fans up to speed.

Track listing:

1. Captain, We're Sinking - "Crushed By Milwaukee's Best"
2. The Fucking Cops (feat. Ian Graham) - "Sweating Or Freezing"
3. Timeshares - "Woke Up In Grappler School"
4. Direct Hit! - "Monster In The Closet"
5. Great Cynics - "Twenty Five"
6. Candy Hearts - "Last Summer"
7. Masked Intruder - "How Do I Get To You"
8. Mixtapes - "I Was A Teenage Poltergeist"

The sampler can be found here.

Photo Blog: Great Cynics - Part One

New Great Cynics Music Video

Great Cynics' new music video for, 'Cider For Breakfast', can be viewed by clicking read more.

Great Cynics Covers The Lemonheads

Great Cynics' cover of The Lemonheads' 'My Drug Buddy', can be found here.

Great Cynics UK Tour

Great Cynics kick off their UK tour later this month.

July 18 - Soundhouse - Leicester, UK *
July 19 - Bumper - Liverpool, UK *
July 20 - Mozarts - Swansea, UK *
July 21 - Liver Bar - Truro, UK *
July 22 - White Rabbit - Plymouth, UK *
July 23 - Fighting Cocks - Kingston, UK *
July 25 - Poison Bar - Basingstoke, UK *
July 26 - The Hope - Brighton, UK *
July 27 - Karma Cafe - Norwich, UK *
July 28 - Planet Sounds - Southampton, UK ^
August 6 - Unit - Southampton, UK $
August 11 - Islington Academy 2 - London, UK #

* w/ The Living Daylights
^ w/ Algernon Cadwallader and 1994!
$ w/ Living With Lions
# w/ Lemuria and Cheap Girls

New Great Cynics Album Stream

Great Cynics' new album, 'Don’t Need Much' can be streamed in its entirety here.

Album Review: Great Cynics - Don't Need Much

Despite a name change (from Cynics) and the transformation from a solo act to a trio, Great Cynics' debut full-length is the perfect follow up to last year's 'Stones I've Thrown'. Ten songs of honest and laid back punk rock made for lazy summer days.

Throughout Giles Bidder shows a sense of realism; on 'Nightcaps' he sings "open my eyes without a reason, I just get up because it's sunny outside" whilst the rest of the band provide a bright, loose and upbeat style that bounces along at a good pace.

Interview: Great Cynics

Since releasing his well-received 'Stones I've Thrown' EP last year, Giles Bidder's Cynics project has gone through numerous changes. Most notably the one-time solo act has become a trio and has changed its name to Great Cynics. Now joined by drummer Bob Barrett and Iona Cairns on bass, the band are set to release their debut full-length 'Don't Need Much' next month.

Alter The Press! recently caught up with front man Giles Bidder to discuss the line-up changes, the new name, how 'Don't Need Much' came together and more.

Alter The Press: Awhile ago your solo act expanded to a trio. What was the motive for this?
Great Cynics: We wanted it to be louder. Also I think there's something awesome about three piece bands - there's no bullshit, no complications. Plus our preferred demographic includes air-drummers, so we needed to think about those guys.

ATP: How did you join up with Bob Barrett and Iona Cairns?
GC: At one point last year I realised the ten songs I'd written on an acoustic guitar for an album would sound better on an electric and with drums. I'd hung out with Bob a few times previously and seen his other bands a bunch of times, so I gave him a call and he seemed up for it. I sent him acoustic demos I'd recorded on my laptop and I'm not sure if he liked it or not, but either way we practised for a few weeks and then went to record. Pete played bass on the album and for our first few shows we had a revolving bass player situation. Then Iona came on our first tour as a band and it was awesome so it stayed that. She's sung on everything I recorded solo before the album, so she's always been involved.