Jarcrew was a five-piece dance-punk band from Ammanford, Wales. They were a relatively well known underground band for approximately five years between 2000 and their early 2005 split. They played a bizarre mixture of electronica/house and prog-rock/punk/funk that baffled audiences up and down the UK. Since disbanding, several Jarcrew off-shoots have emerged, most notably Future of the Left, a band that contained Jarcrew frontman Kelson alongside ex-mclusky members Andrew Falkous and Jack Egglestone. In 2014, the band reformed for a charity fundraiser and have since made a number of other appearances.
Formation and commercial releases
Starting in a Welsh mining town, Jarcrew qualified for assistance under the Community Music Wales scheme. In 2001, they released their first single, "Paris and The New Math" on Complete Control Music soon followed by the band's debut album Breakdance Euphoria Kids and the single "Capobaby". The album wound up in the hands of Gut Records who offered to remaster the recording. Only half the album was eventually remixed, with the original recordings being used for the rest of the album and single. The band agreed to this and with that, they were signed to a national label and were touring up and down the country, as well as providing radio sessions to the likes of BBC and XFM in London.
Breakup
19 December 2004 saw the band's final show and early 2005 saw the promise of a new album, which the band assured the world was completely written and ready to be recorded. Hot on the heels of this news came the news that Jarcrew had disbanded. No official reason was cited; most commonly cited is that the band split due to Rhodri Thomas becoming a fully-fledged Jehovah's Witness.
Other projects
While rumours of a forthcoming reformation persisted, Kelson most notably assumed the bass duties in Future of the Left with former mclusky members Andrew 'Falco' Falkous and Jack Egglestone. Mathias vacated the position in 2010, and assumed the bass duties in Hywel "Ricardo" Evans' group, Truckers of Husk. In December 2010, Kelson and Hywel appeared on Bethan Elfyn's Radio 1 Introducing show to discuss the band, play a previously unheard demo from the unreleased second album, and hinted at the possibility of a reunion. At a 2012 Truckers of Husk show in Cardiff's Clwb Ifor Bach, the one missing Jarcrew member joined the group onstage for a brief, unpublicised reunion. This was the first time Jarcrew have performed publicly in over seven years.
Reformation
On 26 August 2014, Newport's Le Pub venue, which is facing closure, announced via Twitter that Jarcrew would be reforming for a one-off show supporting 'Mclusky' on Saturday 8 November. All proceeds generated from ticket sales would go towards the £10,000 goal which would pay to soundproof the venue and keep it in business. Mclusky and Jarcrew performed again a week later in Cardiff's Clwb Ifor Bach, for the same cause. They have since performed sporadic one-off shows around Cardiff.
Band members
At their commercial peak around about 2003, the band consisted of:
Kelson Mathias – Vocals, keyboards/synthesizers
Rhodri Thomas – Drums, vocals
Rich Williams – Guitar
Tom Clark – Guitar
Ben Milner – Bass and vocals
However, in 2004 the band saw fit to part ways with Milner – not long before an impending tour. In the few shows the band did towards the end of their career, session musicians and bassists from other bands were employed. A man introduced as "Ricardo" – who, according to Kelson, did not speak a word of English but was "fluent in the language of rock" – was the band's bassist for their appearance at the 2004 Compass Point Festival in Cardiff. The band claim the split with Milner was amicable; Milner asserted at the time that he was ejected against his will. Both Milner and Evans appeared onstage at the 2014 reunion shows, and the subsequent 2015 shows.
