southern records

"Blends smooth indie pop with electronic burbles, and seals the deal with a drummer who thinks he's an octopus. All in all, the band cast a winning, hypnotic spell" Popmatters

The Bloodthirsty Lovers are a three piece featuring David Shouse, a Memphis music maestro known largely for his time spent heading up the Grifters (Southern/Subpop) and Those Bastard Souls (V2). In the summer of 2001,Dave recorded a new CD in his attic. Shows with Enon and Guided by Voices got the word and music out - via homemade CDs straight outta the tour vehicle's trunk. Syd Butler, Les Savy Fav bassist and Frenchkiss proprietor caught wind of the much-buzzed-about record and formed a happy union with Dave. The Bloodthirsty Lovers self-titled debut album will be released to an international audience in February 2003. The band will continue to tour in support of the release.

" David Shouse, best known as one of the frontmen for the Grifters, is the rare major figure in Memphis music whose work has no obvious local antecedent. You can point to Big Star's beautifully bent anglophilic pop if you're desperate, but Shouse's singular sound -- an atmospheric and arty mix of punk, prog, and glam-rock -- is largely a universe unto itself around these parts.(His latest release is) a record in which rich, surprising soundscapes dominate. The opening "Telepathic," with its spare, crisp guitar, atmospheric organ buzz, and brief, percussive vocals, could be a Radiohead outtake from Kid A or Amnesiac. Even more interesting are tracks that might be Shouse's own version of soul music: the two-minute instrumental "Data Punk," despite its title, might be the greatest melding of drum-and-bass and slinky '80s R&B in indie-rock history, while the funky bass line and hip-hop-worthy drum beat that lead off "Transgression No. 9" establish the song's worth as the "underground dance mix" Shouse mentions in the lyrics. And if any of that scares you off, cue up track four, "2,000 Light Years From Home," and luxuriate in the kind of soaring art-rock anthem longtime fans have grown accustomed to -- the kind of song that, when Shouse sings of "waves of radiation tearing at my soul," could very well be self-referential. All in all, this has to be the most exciting "new band" to hit town in quite a while". MEMPHIS FLYER