aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Is This The Life?
#8: Defaid by Pys Melyn
I’m aware that this run of Welsh Wednesdays has not yet featured any acts from the North (or “y Gogledd” – down here we refer to our northern compatriots as “Gogs”). It’s time to put that right with a bit of psychedelic folk from the coastal town of Pwllheli on the Llŷn Peninsula (a part of the world you really need to visit).
Pys Melyn (Yellow Peas) began releasing singles in 2018, and in 2019 formed Ski-Whiff Records. They were ejected from their first ever gig, at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach, because they were underage: “We were 15, with about three pieces of facial hair between us.” They persevered nonetheless, and their debut album ‘Byd Llonydd’ (Still World) was nominated for the 2021 Welsh Music Prize. Like a lot of Welsh bands, they do have a slightly quirky sound, but they do integrate all kinds of influences into their music. More recently, Pys Melyn have supported Gruff Rhys and Spiritualized, and played a live session on BBC 6 Music. Cate Le Bon is also a fan, so that’s more than enough of an accolade.
Their second album ‘Bolmynydd’ was released in the summer of 2023. It draws on a range of styles from the 60s and 70s, and lyrically it’s political and humorous in equal measures. It features today’s Welsh Wednesday pick, the short-and-sweet Defaid, which is Welsh for… sheep. Yes. Go on, snigger away. Cliché it may be, but the song is one of disillusionment and resignation. The third verse translates (roughly) as:
The sheep in the field have never been in the gutter / Eating grass all day is a fucking easy life
I’m sure worrying my life away is my fate / Because I have to.
mp3: Defaid by Pys Melyn (from ‘Bolmynydd’, 2023)
Here’s an early track that has a rather different feel to it.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 