Ouroboros presents
Vipertime
Wednesday 10th May, 7.30pm
Tickets are £8 (+ b/f) in advance (more on the door) and available from See Tickets.

*This is a standing show*

Leeds aggro-jazz four-piece Vipertime are back with their long anticipated second album Arise. Exploring the borders of modal jazz, post-punk, dub and afrobeat, the record displays a driving sound that is simultaneously unique to the band and a microcosm of the thriving UK scene.

After beginning as a free-improvising group in the basements of Leeds house parties, Vipertime swiftly began writing their first album and settled on a line-up featuring members of Wandering Monster, Jasmine Myra, K.O.G, Roller Trio and WorldService Project. In 2019 they released their acclaimed debut LP Shakedown and followed this with a series of singles which received radio play on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Introducing and Worldwide FM. The group also made a series of incendiary appearances at venues and festivals across the UK, honing their craft while pushing their line up of saxophone, bass guitar and twin drum sets to its sonic limits.

Where Shakedown captured the band’s raw live energy, on Arise Vipertime have embraced the studio. The global pandemic became a period for the band to grow as composers, before entering Eiger Studios in Leeds under the guidance of veteran producer and engineer Will Jackson. Their punk edge is sharper than ever, but there is a greater maturity and depth to the tunes and a richness of texture to the album as a whole.

Singles ‘Limbs’, ‘Beatviper’ and ‘Head Up (feat. Franz Von)’ received extensive radio play, but the album tracks on Arise hold just as much weight. Bass-driven juggernaut ‘Thumb Claw’ shows the group flexing their garage rock roots, drawing on the visceral sounds of The Ramones, Black Flag and Thee Oh Sees. In stark contrast, ‘The Wiser’ was inspired by drummer Luke Reddin-Williams’s extensive studies of Carnatic music, and sees Ben Powling channelling saxophone demigods Joe Henderson, John Gilmore and Yusef Lateef.

The array of guests featured on Arise demonstrates the strong ties within the Northern Jazz scene. Rising saxophone star Jasmine Myra guests on ‘Demise’, Jamaican-born and Sheffield-based MC and spoken word artist Franz Von takes centre stage on Matias’ Reeds ‘Head Up’ and the haunting cello of Mick Bardon (Shatner’s Bassoon, Nat Birchall) adds a brooding undertone to ‘The Wiser’.

Despite the influence of the Coltranes, Count Ossie and the Ethiopiques, Vipertime are a distinctly British band. Their sound contains the legacy of Joe Harriott, The Pop Group, Acoustic Ladyland, The Jazz Warriors, Rip Rig & Panic and The Slits as well as their peers in the current UK jazz revival. Their punk aesthetic is a direct descendant of Leeds legends Gang Of Four, Xero Slingsby & The Works and Trio VD, and Vipertime themselves are now inspiring a new wave of LS6 hell raisers.

Vipertime
Wednesday 10th May, 7.30pm
Tickets are £8 (+ b/f) in advance (more on the door) and available from See Tickets.