Introducing Pairs from Shanghai

The first time I met Rhys was at a gig in this dingy rock ‘n’ roll dive in Shanghai called Yuyintang. He was playing in an outfit called Pairs, along with Shanghai local called F. They were doing a special performance where they would play each other’s instruments. It was a bit of a disaster and luckily they have since stopped doing that. Pairs though, have gone on to gain a reputation in Shanghai and have released two albums (while playing their own instruments). They also make videos (see above) and post hilarious things on Facebook and they’re “real ace cunts”, as Rhys would say.

I write all of this for a few reasons; mostly because Shanghai is really great and I think all of the cool creative stuff that is going on there generally only circulates locally, and, well, because Rhys asked me to.

So, Pairs have a forthcoming 8-track release coming out called Grandparent, which was recorded in “a tiny shack far out in the guts of Yangpu,” which will have accompanying videos for all the tunes on the Red Scale Productions Youtube site on October 19.

Also, while you’re hopping on the Pairs’ bandwagon, check out their previous releases on bandcamp.

Words by Carol Bowditch