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They’ve been together for two years, signed to Spank Records, and released their debut album. Now, 28 Costumes – one of Liverpool’s most promising new bands - are about to embark on a headline tour of the UK and Ireland. Gigwise met up with Chris (guitar, vocals) and Paul (bass, keyboards) to drink beer and discuss their forthcoming adventures…
‘After unsuccessful stints as badger assassins, pantomime animals, rum smugglers and Japanese high speed trains, the various members of 28 Costumes decided to be in a band’ - or so their website claims. It may not be true, but it does sound funny. “We’re just fed up of looking on bands websites that just have bog standard information. We like to make it comic and express the humour that’s in the band,” says Chris.
The name 28 Costumes was found in an old cinema book that apparently opened itself(!), revealing a profound quote from Hollywood actress Betty Blythe, which said: ‘Even if I wore 28 Costumes it was still so cold I couldn’t get warm.’ But the band are prone to a bit of costume-wearing themselves at times: “We’ve dressed up as priests and Zorro before,” Chris explains. “Our drummer Nick's dad is a priest, so we dressed up as priests for a gig once in honour of him and performed an exorcism on Paul, because he was possessed.”
So, 28 Costumes – available for weddings, christenings, bar mitzvahs and, erm, exorcisms?… Perhaps not.
After masterminding, creating, and releasing their debut album The Fake Death Experience - full of love, bitterness, and of course, songs about the ladies - the Cossies decided it was time to mould together another slice of musical joy. And thus came their latest offering: Adventure Stories. This, their new album, takes a different turn though. According to Chris and Paul, inspirations behind Adventure Stories were somewhat different to their debut - including amongst other things, forests, border collies, bunkers, lay lines, Wales in general, and deflated footballs!
‘But what do 28 Costumes sound like?!’ I hear you cry. Well, to try and put a tag on it would be sick and wrong… Oh well! - it’s slightly off-kilter guitar pop. Indeed, the Costumes proudly wear pop as their main influence, yet individually their musical tastes differ, ranging from Depeche Mode and Radiohead, to Pulp, Pavement, and Talking Heads.
Having been taken on by Tritone, 28 Costumes’ plan is to release their new album by the end of the summer. The first single taken from Adventure Stories is due out on May 20, and the Costumes will be having a launch party to celebrate! The shindig will take place at the Masque Theatre in Liverpool, and will be recorded to go on a DVD for the next album. Bexy Sitch and the Creepy Crawlies – another good Liverpool band - have agreed to perform, and there will be all sorts of other craziness going on throughout the night.
Prior to this, the band will be touring the UK and Ireland at the end of the month. “This one’s mostly our own headline tour but we’ll be supporting some bands on a few dates as well. We played with Maximo Park a few weeks ago, and we might have the Futureheads support in Liverpool on May 18.” - Well, with support slots like these, an upcoming tour, and a new album ready for release, it seems 28 Costumes’ adventures are set to get better and better…
Photos by Mark McNulty
