Snapline

Snapline is post-punk band from China. They have become, almost overnight it seems, perhaps Beijing's fastest rising young band. From being little more than a side project of Carsick Cars' drummer Li Qing and bass player Levis, in the last year they have taken on an identity all of their own, earned full page interviews in the local media and released their first 7" single in the US. When Li Qing trades her drumsticks for guitar stings it is something of a revelation - at times she sounds strangely like The Fall's Marc Riley, or even Fred Frith, carving dense little filigrees above Levis' slow loping basslines and the sharp sweaty pulse of a drum machine; over the top of it all rides singer Chen Xi's chilly deadpan tales of urban dislocation and frustrated longing - behind the designer glasses and charming smile, you just know this man has some dodgy websites saved to his Favorites! When producer and ex-PiL man Martin Atkins came to Beijing to check on the local scene, he was delighted with dozens of bands, but wholly awestruck by Snapline’s uniquely weird melodies, and immediately insisted on producing their first CD. They are not the easiest band to love, but their followers are passionately loyal and their music keeps growing in strange unexpected ways. Line Up: Vocals : Chen Xi (陈曦) Keyboard : Li Qing (李青) (Carsick Cars) Bass : Levis (李维思) (Carsick Cars)