The Black Tulips: PRESS

[Press packs and review copies are always available; email theblacktulips @ theblacktulips.com]

Some quotes...: [radio index]

ORGAN: "SINGLE OF THE WEEK… deliciously English and rather hat-stand and melancholic and happy… compelling and sometimes curiously beautiful… slightly seedy and tangled and twitching lace curtains… her voice drags you in"

DROWNED IN SOUND: "an aching howl of a song… phenomenal voice… naked vulnerability… grand, theatrical gestures and complete creative certainty… striking, affecting, surreal and utterly original… utterly, utterly glorious… 9/10"

GOD IS IN THE TV: "bewilderingly brilliant… at once venerable and bare, at other moments twisted and pained… a fabulous EP… a band that could literally rip up the rulebook and start again"

BLOWBACK: "unique… energy and beauty… also a touch of the dark and malevolent… something special… Alexandra's voice provides a dramatic emphasis and an intense backbone… sultry rock… addictive… a BlowBack fave"

UNPEELED: "all gothically arched and liquidly muscled, languorous glamour… brutally squeezed spazz-guitar riffs… it's a pleasure to be able to report that invention, wit and creativity do still exist"

R*E*P*E*A*T: "The Black Tulips live and breathe for the dysfunctional… original… captivating… intriguing… raking their fingernails down the chalkboard of human emotion… and if you want to know who they sound like, I'm afraid I couldn't tell you. They sound like nothing else"

DISORDER: "pompous, atmospheric, magisterial… baroque… like nothing I have ever heard before, and in this identikit age that is high praise indeed… all the hairs on my body stood on end… truly, truly barking"

TASTY: "The Black Tulips do not do things by halves… full on gothic operetta… gentle love song to soothe the soul… genius… uncategorisable and intriguing - you always get value from The Black Tulips"

FOXY DIGITALIS: "a hesitant, spooky, horrorshow tale of murder and mayhem… as theatrical as anything Rice & Webber might have imagined… completely over the edge… dancing around the room… further investigation is encouraged"

VANITY PROJECT: "dark, malodorous, ghostly, septic but kinda beautiful… ‘Lie Detector’ is blistered torch-song/punk-attack… ‘Under The Skin’ the blackened, morning cigarette ballad to finish"

THE MAG: "incredibly epic and haunting sound… anthemic chorus… repeating in my head like a mantra… sent shivers… impossible not to be drawn in by it… infectious… fast, raw and angry… totally surprised me"

NEON BUZZ: "I am intrigued… sweeping, yearning vocals… stomping drums and meandering guitars… an air of sophistication… "Under The Skin" slows the contemplation down… heart wrenching"

PLAYLOUDER: "sounds like it'd dangle a rotting thigh, still clad in fishnet and feathers, over the side of your ghost train carriage as a skeletal laugh heralds your shocking, grisly, and sordid doom… all the ingredients are here… I want to hear more"

...on We The Lonely Ones:

UNPEELED: "This is big canvas, ambitious, not pissing around rock-pop… glamour from and of the shadows, vampiric, dangerous, sleazy and serious. This is not trivia, this is a superior example of ephemeral culture, lap it up, kids"

CD TIMES: "dark, fuzzed up and dirtily produced… glammed up indie… lead singer Alexandra has the ability to yowl in a manner that I don't think I've ever heard on record…"

4KIKS: "the epic return of Hastings spooky kids The Black Tulips… a significant shift in scope… this time it’s so big it could probably swallow you whole!"

GOD IS IN THE TV ZINE: "stately and sexual, it’s like being slowly tied up in S+M gear before being given a great big bear hug… superb… an anthem for “The Lonely Ones”: it's divine"

JUICE: "both mannered and reckless… the incongruity works… catchy, sardonic vocals… like Hole doing a Suede song… a good mix, especially when the singer's aloof refrains turn into chilling, unsettling groans"

VANITY PROJECT: "thick; fizzing; dark; pounding beneath Alexandra’s wide-eyed diva slink, a haunted shiver raising a nervy finger at each chorus. Gradually it builds the tension, the poise, the power… tremendous"

TASTY: "a deliciously filthy and clipped bassline is the mainstay of this most noir of indie-noir tracks… a song of epic proportions…"

TRANSPARENT: "like a darkly possessed, scuzzed up, early Suede… get a copy… leave yourself behind and wallow in its presence"

...on The Black Tulips EP:

GLASSWERK: “Put simply this is BRILLIANT!… the deep but beautiful sound she produces is one that sends shivers down the spine… I keep having to get off my arse to press play again… this is a must have EP”

DROWNED IN SOUND: “The Black Tulips are from Brighton and they have come to steal your soul, make you fall in love and then destroy you… filthy and twisted and out of control… inherently glorious”

ORGAN: “DEMO OF THE WEEK… she could stitch our little hearts into her hand… pointy scratchy uncompromising, glamorous, mysterious and wonderfully different… let us take more tea in celebration of something rather special”

GOD IS IN THE TV: “Hacks will be drawn to pigeonholing them into a neat genre: art rock, post punk, goth rock, but that would be lazy: music as in-your-face, feral and poised as this is only faintly traceable to the past… obscenely good”

CHURCH OF GIRL: "Alexandra’s elastic vocal range allows her to go from towering to growling in the same measure… her captivating voice is matched only by her lyrics of intelligence and wit… un-derived, and completely relentless"

DISKANT: “totally diseased and… like nothing i've ever heard. 'Just Keep Coming' is a feral garage/blues stomp, 'I Don't Want You' is propulsive disco-punk… 'Sad Sally' is primal-sounding Bowie fuzz-rock”

MANCHESTER MUSIC: “something out of the ordinary… the enigmatic Alexandra provides the piercing/positive vocal lines… voodoo-induced swirl of sounds… volatile and highly combustible… a masterstroke… thoroughly recommended”

JOYZINE: “genuinely exciting… ploughing their own dark furrow through the stagnant path of British indie… this is music of intelligence and wit that knows when to rock out and when to hold back”

SOUNDSXP: “poison-laden guitars… colourful lyrical imagery… like Franz Ferdinand murdered, re-animated and instructed to “rock”… truly innovative”

DAMN PEST: “unconventional, literate and visually appealing... raw, brash English assault… electrifyingly close to the bone, like Siouxsie encountering the Slits on the set of Rocky Horror… frenetic but utterly tuneful… hugely impressive”

CD TIMES: "one of the most thrilling new bands to emerge from London’s crooked underbelly… Fat thumping bass, snarling vocals, scratchy menacing guitars, it's bloody good… 9/10"

THE MAG: “100% insanely ripped-up tunes… this record is absolutely fantastic… we have all seen how crazy the rock icons of the past 50 years have been and if they’re anything to go by, this band are gonna make it”

...on The Black Tulips in concert:

R*E*P*E*A*T: “frankly awesome… absolutely beautiful… a wild-eyed, blasted moor-coven meeting of a set… when something's new enough to jar against what you've been led to expect from gig-going, you know that someone's hit the jackpot”

METROLITE: "Alexandra becomes possessed when she sings – stalking the stage, daring you to look her in the eye… the audience are mesmerized… splendid stuff"

JOYZINE: "The Black Tulips… pulled out tunes like the wiry 'Just Keep Coming'… singer Alexandra commanded the stage with an imposing presence… unique vocals… unrivalled intensity"