Please Please You presents The Triple Dutch Tour!
Personal Trainer
The Kittens + Real Farmer
The Crescent, York
Thursday 1st February, 7.30pm
Tickets are £15 (+ b/f) in advance (more on the door) and available from See Tickets.
Personal Trainer
Most bands should be familiar with the honeymoon phase, those lofty formative stages where creativity blooms as the purest of fruits. The fingers itch, the eyes wander off to rapturous highs, the body trembles electric with creative energy waiting to be unleashed upon unsuspecting onlookers. Unfortunately, the honeymoon phase is usually just that: a phase.
Thank heavens, nobody told indie rock crusaders Personal Trainer this was all supposed to be temporary. The Amsterdam-based collective seek out sharp-witted ways to prolong the innate joy of being a band just plugging in and playing. Willem Smit, the group’s conductor and cheerleader, started the band as an ultimate love letter to the vibrant scene he himself inhabits. The ten tracks of their rapturously received debut album “Big Love Blanket”, released late in 2022, arrived fully-formed, displaying a playful, almost hyperactive diversity of sounds and influences, landing on one all of their own.
Co-produced with Casper van de Lans, Willem Smit, the group’s conductor and cheerleader, rummaged knee-deep into the strongholds that conceived many of the past decade’s quintessential Dutch alternative records. The quest to squeeze out the most potential out of each song might seem somewhat at odds with Personal Trainer’s tumultuous modus operandi (which included a 24-hour concert streamed live at Amsterdam’s legendary Paradiso in 2021). The conditions Smit and Van de Lans set aren’t all that different: create that feeling of being a little bit out of your depth, a little foolish, and allow some of that silliness to guide the musical direction forward. “Whenever I catch myself doing something premeditated, I wouldn’t like it if I just pretended to know it all. I think I would find that incredibly lame.”
Known for their rousing and electric live shows, 2023 will see Personal Trainer take to the stages at some of the finest festivals, SXSW, Eurosonic, End of the Road Festival and more and play their biggest headline to date at a sold out Paradiso in Amsterdam.
Press:
“Dutch indie-rockers expertly juggle with pathos, clatter and Malkmus-esque deadpan.”
MOJO
“An understated and slow burning joy – full of subtlety that you can’t help but return to”
So Young Magazine
“Equally loose and tight in the right places, flicking through musical genres as if it’s all one big pick and mix, ‘Big Love Blanket’ sees Personal Trainer arrive in perfect health.”
Dork
The Kittens
The Klittens are five musicians on a mission, untrained but unbothered. A band for those who have a knack for happy songs and sad sentiments. Their music is a surprising mix of indie-fuzz and DIY. The result: a repertoire that reaches from dark post-punk to danceable songs about grandma’s.
What initially started as a platform and creative outlet for political ideas, ended up in a group of friends that is growing into a professional band. An adventure that each of the members had always dreamed of, but never dared to make happen. The band members all started out with little to no experience, so every step the band takes is a learning experience. How do you rehearse? What equipment do you need? How do you get gigs? How do you write a song? This DIY approach is what makes The Klittens an unpredictable, but fun group of friends that are ready to experience every new step that they’re taking.
The girls are slowly crawling out of the Amsterdam underground scene: they toured the UK with York’s indie rock band Bull, supported SASAMI and Tacocat, and played shows with Dutch bands such as KIEFF, Lewsberg, Personal Trainer, Pip Blom and global charming.
The band released their first three singles in 2020 which got a lot of recognition, despite the pandemic and limited possibilities. They kicked off with ‘Manic Dixi Dream Girl’ (self-released), followed by ‘Bleeding Gums’ (Permanent Creeps, UK) and ‘Liebe Resi’ (Geertruida, NL). These three songs characterize the first ever studio experience of the band in IJland Studio with producer Remko Schouten (Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Claw Boys Claw, Canshaker Pi).
Now the band has returned to IJland Studio to record new material, and are set to release their debut-EP ‘Citrus’ on the 15th of April (digital + vinyl). With Citrus The Klittens present their musical exploration in it’s full range from sweet to sour. The band first released the heavy heartbreak single ‘Canned Air’ in October 2021, followed by danceable ‘Herkenbosch’ and their latest single ‘Pristine Blue’, which was released on March 11th.
Press:
‘The Klittens don’t take an attitude, but play pop music straightforwardly.’
3voor12
‘It’s early days, yet already The Klittens feel like a band who are onto something special, don’t be surprised if these new Dutch masters end up making a very big splash.’
For The Rabbits
‘In casual devil-may-case fashion, these five girls conjure an infectious brand of guitar pop that oozes swagger’
Left Of The Dial
‘Their first cassette EP, Pigeonhole, an interesting and promising debut which hosts three tracks, each of which displaying a different sonic feel whilst at the same time nailing potent and frequently feministic lyricism, a combination that makes the band ironically hard to pigeonhole.’
Louder Than War
‘There’s always been a nonchalance to The Klittens’ music, a sense that these five have decided that it doesn’t really matter if you may not be the most skilled instrumentalist as long as you write the coolest songs on the block.’
So Young Magazine
Please Please You presents Triple Dutch!
Personal Trainer
The Kittens + Real Farmer
The Crescent, York
Thursday 1st February, 7.30pm
Tickets are £15 (+ b/f) in advance (more on the door) and available from See Tickets.