Fawn Spots

.The dual guitar/vocal punch of Jonathan Meager and Oliver Grabowski (the band is a trio, along with drummer Sean Joseph Hughes) is a powerful battering ram, the band’s lack of a bass guitar in no way hindering their delivery of a real lower end attack. This aggression is reinforced by the occasional hardcore punk flavour of their music: relatively short songs delivered with speed and energy (Grabowski in particular thrashes and writhes while wrestling the notes from his guitar, while Hughes maintains a thunderous rhythm behind his kit, favouring solid power over any frilly fills or drum solo wankery). Some slight mic issues mean Meager’s impassioned shouting is indistinct and drowned out by the guitars, but nobody in the audience seems to mind too much by the time the band end their set with a heavy rendition of ‘The Official Ironmen Rally Song’ by Guided By Voices. Decent stuff. - Soundsphere Magazine

Fawn Spots don’t hang around - tearing through the sub-three minute handbook of all that is great about proto-punk, garage and rock’n’roll with suitable gusto. - The Line of Best Fit

Here they give focus to a lively amalgam of Rites Of Spring, Samiam and The Men. Not too shabby. - Record Collector Magazine

Fawn Spots are post-punk, garage rockers and ‘Basin’ is an energetic, short track with frenetic guitars. The vocals are intense and shouted out by lead singer Jonathan Meager and it actually really makes me want to watch these guys live, which can only be a good thing I guess. - Pennyblack Music

Fawn Spots provided the antidote to all the disorientation. Their set was shockingly loud, gone were the poppy, chiming cuts and sharp crashing melodies; it seems the US gigs and split LP Wedding Dress with Cum Stain have precipitated the creation of a tougher, howling sound. Equal part Tudor lad (Roaring Boys indeed) equal part No Wave snarl, they battered the audience, which slowly and ever more noticeably started to take to the band, first via the odd bit of head nodding, then dancing then roaring acceptance. Fawn Spots’ current appeal is based squarely on the ever mounting adrenaline levels released by the merciless charge of this racket. In some ways it’s like being stuck in a hot train. It may come as a shock at first, but there’s little you can do about it, so it’s time to explore the parameters of your toleration levels, and see what you can gain from the experience. And once the appreciation that you can’t hang your hopes on those melodies anymore kicks in, you find you can slowly ingest this throbbing metallic racket. Rich mid tones coagulated round a full, deep drum sound: tracks like Watered Down and Tailor Made were hammered out, feedback snarled; guitars chugged and strained at the leash. It’s also very much a young man’s sound, which they play up to, like birds of paradise showing off their plumage they want to show you they can do a job, go harder, faster, higher than the rest and in that it’s pop music. Such is their confidence that they have ditched their best known song, Spanish Glass, though after a while that mattered not. An encore, (playing the only other song they could play) and that was that. WORM dug them. - Incendiary Magazine

The Mine is a strange, long venue that feels like both a Roman Circus and a 60s sci-fi ship. The best place is at the front, smack in the middle. This was the only acceptable place to be to catch the euphoric set by Fawn Spots, who performed like bloodthirsty Vikings on a berserk rage. Brutal and unforgiving, their rapid-fire tracks were delivered deftly and on target. - The Sloucher

A band who do know what they want is Fawn Spots – put simply, they just want to rock. Possessing a rhythmic noise that would penetrate even the hardiest of earplugs, they are incredible tight and musically impolite considering co-frontman Oliver Grabowski’s take home to mother good looks. Last time I reviewed them, back at Beacons festival, a few of their fans on facebook took issue with the fact that I claimed they were a little shaky on their feet in terms of stage presence, more than understandable considering their line up reshuffle. Whilst I stand by what I said then, today, they are a band entirely matured and virtually faultless, proof that practise really does make perfect. Good on you lads! - Safety in Sound