>What, another Welsh band on A New Band A Day? There’s no hidden agenda here*, just a reflection of the fact that Wales is spewing out great bands at a shocking rate at the moment. I’ve chuntered on before about how many Welsh bands seem to have something extra that just lifts them above their peers, and guess what? – Today’s New Band, Picture Books In Winter are another example of just that.

Welsh bands seem to have a monopoly on the violin too – see Gorky’s and Los Campesinos! for proof – and Picture Books In Winter prove again that I was wrong to turn down violin lessons as a youngster. Because if I’d taken them, perhaps I too could be playing in bands with songs as surprising, lithe and strutting as Horizontally I Am Champion.

Hear it on their MySpace Page. “I’ve always had a talent for arts and crafts”, they proclaim over the lolloping guitar line, whilst musing about ex-Blue Peter tea-time-trouser-troubler Konnie Huq. It’s unusual to hear a song which is so wonderfully idiosyncratic from such a new band – and as even more incentive, should you need it, Horizontally I Am Champion is available as a free download on their Myspace page. Visit, download, and add them to your burgeoning ‘Great Welsh Bands’ list that I’m sure you have stuck to your fridge.

*nothing illegal, anyway. Honest.