NEW YORKERS LEVY TO TOUR UK.

Angst-ridden, “endearing and lovelorn” (Mojo) and not a million miles away from the “Strokes-meets-Morrissey” (Time Out) comparisons that even now pursue the band as they cross the Atlantic, New York four-piece Levy will be touring the UK throughout April. The band whose debut album Rotten Love has just been released to critical acclaim will be releasing a new single entitled In The Woods on One Little Indian on May 22nd and will be appearing live supporting the Macabees on the following dates:

Saturday 1st April - Nottingham Social
Sunday 2nd April - Newcastle Other Rooms (1st on main support Eastern Lane)
Monday 3rd April - Sheffield Leadmill
Tuesday 4th April - Bristol Lousiana
Wednesday 5th April - Wolves Little Civic
Sunday 9th April - Cardiff Barfly
Tuesday 11th April - Glasgow King Tuts (1st on main support Eastern Lane)
Wednesday 12th April - Manchester Club Academy
Thursday 13th April - Brighton Pavillion Theatre

Levy will also be appearing on their own as a headline act on Friday 14th April at Peterborough Met Lounge and on Saturday 15th April at London Camden’s Barfly.

Levy are James Levy (guitar, voices), Matthew Daniel Siskin (guitars), James Broughel (bass) and David Daniels (drums). Formed in (and by) New York just over two years ago, Levy have finally spat themselves out of that vibrant city’s revitalized punk scene and landed in a territory they can confidently call their own. That’s not to say that Levy don’t sound like anyone else (and, indeed, Felt, Orange Juice, early Teenage Fanclub and the Smiths are all influentially present and correct), it’s just that (and have you guessed it yet?), on occasion, they hardly sound American at all. Live and on stage, James Levy has a swagger reminiscent of Billy Bragg but his lyrical bent and intuitive bonhomie will always betray this tough-guy image. He may be only 24 years old but he already has a lot to say about love and life and how it is lived. And Levy the band may sound as if they’ve come straight out of Manchester or Glasgow or London but there’s one thing that gives them away: they do that stripped down drums and guitar thing that the Yanks do so well. Oh yes, don’t get me wrong – when the dust has settled, Levy have the potential to be as loved and feted and coveted and hated as a Coldplay or a Snow Patrol.

Some things you have said: ‘an endearing bedroom studio feel that creates the kind of endearing lovelorn sound that makes you wish the ‘90s had never happened’ (Mojo); ‘as enchanting as it is brief’ (The Times Knowledge); ‘Strokes meets Morrissey’ (Time Out); the best moments suggest acquaintance with magic’ (Uncut); ‘Levy sound like they were raised in a depressed British town and yet have enough flair to make their fantasies of foiled love among the factory smokestacks sound convincing’ (Q).

Levy release In The Woods on One Little Indian on May 22nd 2006. The band’s debut album Rotten Love is currently available also on One Little Indian.