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Various articles, reviews etc. from the popular press.

NME

Natural History

John Bramwell is a pretty gnarly sort of character. He cuts hecklers dead. He howls unhinged. He is a master of the provocative aside... And yes, he does all this while playing that most genteel of instruments, the acoustic guitar.

I Am Kloot, you see, are a million miles from the niceties of the New Acoustic Movement, and this, their debut LP, sets out their alternative agenda. It vacillates between self-loathing, cynicism and moments of profound tenderness, and really it's only their instrumentation that's traditional. Bramwell's melodies have been transformed by the sensitive spinning of bassist Pete Jobson and drummer Andy Hargreaves, and they're crucial in fulfiling I Am Kloot's promise.

Lyrically, the record's great. Explicit and honest and a master of metaphor, Bramwell is, in his own way, as fine a wordsmith as Morrissey or Stuart Murdoch. There are oddly poetic phrases here, shrouded in a multiplicity of possible meanings, that will nag at you forever. "There's blood on your legs", presses Bramwell in 'Twist'. "I love you".

The album's pinnacle, 'Because', suggests this lyrical obscurity is essential. Strip the obscure, imagistic couplets from this meditative, rolling-ocean ballad and it'd be nothing. They help form a mystical, rapturous, staggering declaration of love. And a fitting end to an album that, while not flawless, will stir you into a rare, joyous fervour.

Tony Naylor
Rating: 8

NME

I AM KLOOT
3 Feet Tall (Echo)

"Three feet tall", trills the Mancunian trio's frontman, Johnny Bramwell, "With a head like a bowling ball...". Not, unfortunately, an ode to Moby, but this is really nice anyway - another barefoot-in-the-sunshine moment with lots of jangly guitars and a cheeky twinkle in its eye that suggests the new acoustic movement never went away. Just the kind of tune to see out the rest of the summer.

NME

Titanic/To You

27/11/99

Enchanting debut from a promising Manchester group who might just have heard one or two Go-Betweens albums seeping from the door of the local second-hand record shop as they trawled the city's streets in search of the same beguiling Manc spirit currently being touted by Badly Drawn Boy and, still, El Moz. Singer Johnny Bramwell need look no more, though, for both 'Titanic' and 'To You' are incisive, darkly humorous musings on the minutiae of life rendered listenable by their thinly veiled debt to kindred souls like Elliott Smith and Leonard Cohen. It's hard to get excited about something so self-deprecating and determinedly bleak, but bloody hell, we're trying. They Are Kloot, then, and they are not to be confused with Klute, the veteran junglist.

Piers Martin

Interview

22/04/00

WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY? Quiet, compelling, semi-acoustic songs, given real drama and zip by a subtly elastic rhythm-section. John, meanwhile, sneering like Lennon, then sweet as McCartney, dispenses couplets to treasure.
"Less is more" nods Andy.
"I never wanted to be in a band where you had to tap your foot and count bars - fuck all that," says Peter, "I'd forget".

Comparisons (from Badly Drawn Boy to The Smiths) are endless and wide of the mark. They are, simply, I Am Kloot.

THE STRUGGLE SO FAR: Manchester, late-80's. Johnny Dangerously, this slight, scruffy kid (who's just back from eight months living in a caravan in North Wales) is trashing preconceptions about 'singer-songwriters'. He's punk, he's got spunk, he supports the Happy Mondays! A bruised, brilliant mini-album, "You, Me & The Alarm Clock" (Village), surfaces at the height of Madchester "You can imagine how many I sold."

Athens, early-90's. John's out there with a girl. He busks by day. They fall apart, horribly. He returns to Manchester with the bones of a forthcoming single, 'Twist'. It's as desperate and intense as you might imagine.

Nineteen-ninety-nine, I Am Kloot release 'To You'. Critics swoon. While feeling compelled to point out just how crap their name is. "It's just a matter of people catching up with us," laughs John. "In two years time, everyone will be called I Am this or that..."

JUSTIFY OUR LOVE: Darkly humorous, restless and romantic, as a lyricist John is as sharp as Morrissey or Elvis Costello. He refuses, however, to obsess over his words. "It's the sound that's the real truth of us, the words are the confusion. All words are mask. Some are intriguing, and you can think about the songs if you want to, but it's not what things mean, it's how they make you feel."

GET AWAY! In the mid-90s, John presented Granada's late-night yoof TV show, Juice: "I compromised myself, and was around something I really didn't like. But, I had always been skint, and the money was really good."

Soon after, John and Juice co-presenter Tara Newley (daughter of Anthony Newley and Joan Collins) become an item. Suddenly, John Bramwell, from Hyde, was driving Joan Collins around London in his clapped out mini and being trailed on holiday by tabloid paparazzi. Weird times, all told.

"I wasn't drug addicted but, certainly, that's the first time I've ever had any money, so what do you do?"

You lose the plot.

"The terrible consequences and the beauty of it all will be on the album" John promises.

WHAT NEXT? Vindication, as IAK take Britain by stealth. "You don't need volume for edge," declares John, emphatically. "We could change people's lives with three decibels."

Tony Naylor

X-Ray

God help the Great British Pop Song. It's in no danger of dying out yet, but the quest among young bands for volume and distortion sometimes threatens to drown out the gentle old soul. That's where I Am Kloot come in, with their dedicated pursuit of a tradition on the wane since the late-90s heyday of The Lightening Seeds, The Boo Radleys et al. This Manchester trio restored faith in songwriting idiom with their 2001 debut, Natural History, and are at it again with this eponymous newbie. Johnny Bramwell's fabulous voice, pitched somewhere between John Lennon and Lily Savage, is the key to a lot of this magic. His tongue-twisting around the easy-going "From Your Favourite Sky" and the gentle "Not A Reasonable Man" is captivating and soothing. Well-crafted, easy on the ear and totally up for repeated listening - here's an album that's as black and white as its packaging.

3.5/5

Xfm

I Am Kloot '3 Feet Tall' (Echo)
AK: The Manchester-based three piece offer a simple but effective serving of indie pop that highlights John Bramwell's knack for lovelorn (but none too serious) song writing. He has a reassuring if not soothing voice that melds well with lively percussion and catchy guitar, and gives I Am Kloot much of their edge. Gentle but with a chorus that fires at the right time, '3 Feet Tall' is a definite grower.