The Picture Show

The Picture Show are one of West London's most promising unsigned bands and have been steadily gaining momentum throughout 2007. This year they released their first self-financed ep ‘the Revolutionary' following a hive of activity including shows with kindred spirits Editors, a well received music video and a string of thrilling performances across the UK.

The twin strengths of the Picture Show lay in their cathartic live shows and in the darkly romantic indie songbook that frontman Alexei Chityan has been writing since the hey-day of millennial Derby legends Ashborn, the band's previous incarnation.

The songs of the Picture Show have already won acclaim across print and radio media (including the Fly and XFM) for their enigmatic depictions of the band's multicultural background, evocatively describing the ice black landscapes of a mythic Eastern Europe filled with silent toasts to fallen comrades, trees dedicated to Pushkin and Soviet rockets fired to ‘touch the face of God'.

The line-up of the Picture Show is headed by singer songwriter Alexei Chityan, the west London based son of a Russian émigré whose yearning vocal style has been regularly compared to both Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake in its range and intensity.

To Alexei's left on guitar is Dave Wakeham. Having supported the Killers and enjoyed Radio One airplay with his previous band "Distant Sun" Dave's dynamic mixture of melody and dissonance lends the band's music a subtlety that recalls early REM and the Cure.

The frenetic urgency of the band's sound is driven by the Picture Show's formidablebassist, Nick Malewski's with his insistent riffs and vocals.

Finally, adding an extra layer of atmosphere is Chris Twydell, whose layers of guitar noise and harmony brings a Kevin Shields like experimental sensibility to the proceedings.

Live, the Picture Show have garnered a reputation as an impressive force of nature cutting through the London circuit, with an electric urgency as informed by the Slavic folk tradition as it is by Sonic Youth. With their growing collection of three minute epics, the Picture Show are quickly becoming the word of mouth band of 2007.