“The Retreats” was formed in March 2008 when Roscoe Palm and Greg Geyser were so incredibly pissed off with a crap live performance by Britpop losers “Kaiser Chiefs”, that they decided to start their own band. Their rationale was “if those hacks can get paid to play, then so can we”. Roscoe and Greg started to do small unplugged gigs at friends' houses, their set consisting of original material and covers. Gradually the covers were replaced by original songs. After a few gigs, Desnin Williams joined the band on bass guitar. Desnin is one of Cape Town's brightest young jazz guitar prospects,... (+) expand

“The Retreats” was formed in March 2008 when Roscoe Palm and Greg Geyser were so incredibly pissed off with a crap live performance by Britpop losers “Kaiser Chiefs”, that they decided to start their own band. Their rationale was “if those hacks can get paid to play, then so can we”. Roscoe and Greg started to do small unplugged gigs at friends' houses, their set consisting of original material and covers. Gradually the covers were replaced by original songs. After a few gigs, Desnin Williams joined the band on bass guitar. Desnin is one of Cape Town's brightest young jazz guitar prospects, aspiring to the same ballpark as George Benson, Bireli Lagrene etc. He plays professionally in a number of jazz bands, so why he would waste his time and talent on an obscure punk rock project is anyone's guess. Roscoe had heard from various sources about a strong, quick drummer named Nick Gordon and did everything short of standing on his head to convince Nick to join the band. Persistence paid off. Despite being 16 years old, Nick's drumming is both powerful and technically sound. He comes from a hardcore background, his last project being behind the kit for prog-metal group, “They Came From The Sky”. At Nick's recommendation, the band recruited Andrew Esterhuizen on bass. This would free Desnin up to fill in on keyboards and lead guitar on an ad-hoc basis. Retreat is an area where Greg used to stay and where Roscoe and Desnin continue to reside. It is the last neighborhood on earth you would expect to find a rock band, so as a name for the band, “The Retreats” is a nice fit. “Retreat” is also one of the few words in the English language malleable enough to have both a positive and a negative connotation. Besides, all of the really good band names are already taken. (The band have previously played under various monikers including, “The Mohammed Cartoons”, “Code 70” and “Passionate Sasha and the Shattered Vulvas”). With influences ranging from “The Mars Volta” to “Muse”, from Bireli Lagrene to Bjork, the band's sound is curiously more akin to groups like “The Pixies” and “Nirvana”. The music of “The Retreats” can best be described at this point as punk with pop sensibilities. The band are presently rehearsing original material for their live shows with a view to launching the new lineup and new material in the last quarter of 2008. (-) collapse