Oval: Crywank (solo) + Commuted
By Kit Macdonald
In a salutary example of the wisdom of making a solid move and working the details out as you go along, the manchester singer-songwriter Jay Clayton formed Crywank in 2009, before he knew how to play the guitar. He first learned two chords and wrote several songs using those two chords, going on to release two solo albums before turning Crywank into a full band for their third full length, Tomorrow Is Nearly Yesterday and Everyday Is Stupid.
Memorably described as "a sarcastic Bright Eyes", Crywank's music has kept its raw, stripped-down acoustic base while taking in expanded sonic elements in the course of five more albums. Simpsons obsessives take note: in 2014 Crywank released the Following the Lizard Queen EP, which was written from the perspective and under the name of Langdon Alger.