London thoroughbred brother and sister duo Joe Gideon & The Shark are a sight and sound to behold.
Joe Gideon pounds bass and guitar whilst narrating his autobiographical tales of misadventure, and little sister Viva (The Shark) drives the whole thing along with glorious drums and piano and 8-track (often, incomprehensibly, all at the same time)
Meandering through soundscapes that take in beat-fuelled rifforama, voodoo-injected grooves and melodious beauty, their sound is both comfortably spacious and foot-stompingly intense. And highly original.
Viva’s artistry is gracious and almost gymnastic, evidently a trait learned from her days as a ribbon-twirling athlete (a rhythmic gymnast to be precise) who represented the UK in the Barcelona Olympics. (Incidentally, Viva got the ribbons out once more when starring in the video for Archie Bronson Oufit’s Dead Funny). Gideon was not around to witness his sister’s glory, instead he was on the opposite side of the globe on the jury panel judging Miss Bolivia.