The Take (Welsh band)

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The Take
Also known asFishtake (1996–2002)
Origin Cardiff, Wales
Genres
Years active1996–2007; 2010
Labels Household Name, Bombed Out
Past members
  • Jim Williams
  • Paul Copner
  • Richard Crayford
  • Charles Curran
  • Will Rees
  • Nathan Phillips

The Take were a Welsh punk rock band from Cardiff, Wales. Formed in 1996 under the name Fishtake, the band helped to establish the south Wales hardcore scene. They released two studio albums, two extended plays and one demo.

Contents

History

The band was formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1996 as Fishtake by Jim Williams (drums), Paul Copner (guitar) and Richard Crayford (bass). They began by covering Nirvana songs in a warehouse on Barry Island. [1] Charles Curran joined on bass when Crayford left in 1998. [2] Alongside No Fit State, Public Disturbance and No Choice, the band quickly became a part of an emerging wave of south Wales bands taking influence from United States hardcore. [3]

In 1999, they released the demo Ensure This is Your Medicine. [4] Will Rees, formerly of Four Letter Word, soon joined as drummer, solidifying the lineup with Williams on guitar and vocals, Copner on guitar, Curran on bass, and Rees on drums. [5] In November 2000, they recorded an extended play, Private Foul And Surface Water, which was self-released through The 23:59 Label. To support the release, the band undertook a tour of the UK with Cardiff band Douglas in spring 2001. Copner was unable to join this tour, so his role was temporarily filled with Pete Leakey from Brecon-based punk band No Comply [6]

In August 2001, they recorded their debut full length album Propeller at Prism Studio, Stoke-on-Trent with Sean Lowe. [7] Copner left the band shortly after and Leakey officially joined as guitarist. [8] Around this time, they changed their name to the Take. [9] Curran gave the recording to Katherine "Kafren" Vik of Household Name Records, who signed the band and soon organised for them to open for the Dillinger Four in London. [10] The album was released on 4 November 2002. [7] They released the Gene Pool + 2 EP that same year. [11] To support the album, they toured with Capdown, the Lawrence Arms [11] and Belvedere. [12]

On the 15th January 2003, the Take recorded a live session for BBC Radio 1’s "Bethan and Huw Show", at Monnow Valley Studio in Monmouth, Wales. [13] Will Rees left the band in 2003 and was replaced by Nathan Phillips, formerly of the band Douglas. [11] At the end of 2004, they entered Prism Studio with Sean Lowe. Two of the songs recorded during this session, were included on their 2005 split EP with screamo band Night and the City of Broken Promises, released by Détournement Records. [11] The remaining tracks were released as the album Dolomite in 2006. The album was released on CD by Leeds based label Bombed Out Records., [14] followed by a tour with Yorkshire band Calcutecs. [11] On 4 October 2006, the Take recorded a second live session for BBC Radio 1's Bethan and Huw Show, at Stir Studio in Cardiff. [15]

The band played their final show on 6 April 2007 at Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff. [11] In July 2010, they reformed for a single performance, commemorating John Sicolo, owner of the venue TJ's, alongside a reformed Douglas. [16]

Musical style

Critics have categorised their music as post-hardcore, [17] emo, [18] melodic hardcore [3] and gruff punk. [19] They merged elements of hardcore punk and indie rock. [4] Their music was melodic and dissonant, [20] including complex instrumentals [21] and elements of progressive and pop music. [22]

They cited influences including Jawbox, Samiam, Jawbreaker, [23] Shootin' Goon, Public Disturbance and Douglas. [24]

Members

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Demos

References

  1. ↑ Dave, Monk (December 2003). "The Take". Fracture (25): 28. we started banging about in like, '96 or something, just me, our first guitarist Paul Copner and our first bass player Richey, At the time it was just about having something to do on a Sunday afternoon — we'd go down to Barry Island, set up in a warehouse we had access to and bang out some covers, which were mainly NIRVANA songs. I was playing drums
  2. ↑ Dave, Monk (December 2003). "The Take". Fracture (25): 28. Charlie took over on bass after that
  3. 1 2 McLaren, James. "About rock music in Wales - part one". BBC . Retrieved 15 November 2025.
  4. 1 2 Remains, Russell (October 1999). "FISHTAKE - "Ensure This Is Your Medicine"". Fracture (9): 78. an intriguing mix of indie and hardcore that actually blends together a lot better than you'd imagine so that every time the indie sounds.
  5. ↑ Dave, Monk (December 2003). "The Take". Fracture (25): 28. Jim and I had been looking for a drummer for a few years to work on ideas of his and we were lucky enough to persuade Will Rees, who had just left FOUR LETTER WORD, to jam with us. We got on really well and as Jim was now free to play guitar and sing
  6. ↑ Dave, Monk (December 2003). "The Take". Fracture (25): 28. We wrote and recorded an EP called "Private Foul and Surface Water" which we released on our own label - 23:59. We booked a tour with our friends DOUGLAS for spring 2001 (largely through contacts from the first Fracture DIY promoter's guide!) and hit the road! Paul couldn't get enough time off work for the whole tour so we asked Pete, who was rocking with the Brecon NO COMPLY at the time, to do the last week.
  7. 1 2 "The Take - Propeller". Household Name Records. Archived from the original on 18 October 2003.
  8. ↑ Dave, Monk (December 2003). "The Take". Fracture (25): 28. Just after we had recorded our next bunch of songs Paul began finding it hard to make time for practice and playing shows and he decided to bow out. We were on the phone to Pete quite rapidly and to our delight he was up for joining the band.
  9. ↑ Dave, Monk (December 2003). "The Take". Fracture (25): 28. we changed our name from FISHTAKE because... after a while it became really annoying having people ask - "Fishtake? What the hell is THAT about?!", so we dropped the Fish.
  10. ↑ Dave, Monk (December 2003). "The Take". Fracture (25): 28–29. The Household Name thing sort of came about after Charlie passed on a copy of "Propeller" to Kafren (at a show of some kind). Both Lil and Kafren had some good things to say about the album and shortly after offered us a show down the big smoke with DILLINGER FOUR.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Take". Bombed Out Records. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  12. ↑ Dave, Monk (December 2003). "The Take". Fracture (25): 30. You toured with a couple of fairly well known US bands, including LAWRENCE ARMS and BELVEDERE from Canada
  13. ↑ "The-Take.net". Archived from the original on 3 August 2003. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  14. ↑ "The Take – Dolomite". Punktastic.com. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  15. ↑ "BBC - Radio 1 - Bethan and Huw - Tracklistings". BBC . Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  16. ↑ McLaren, James. "Douglas, The Take - Le Pub, Newport". BBC . Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  17. ↑ Watts, Steve (Spring 2003). "THE TAKE - "Propeller" CD". Reason to Believe. 78 (8). an album chock full of post-hardcore rock
  18. ↑ Lugan, Ray (November 2006). "THE TAKE - "Dolomite" CD". Maximum Rocknroll (282): 128. These guys have a melodic emo-core thing going on.
  19. ↑ Quietus, The (21 July 2015). "Noel's Straight Hedge: Punk And Hardcore For July Reviewed". The Quietus . Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  20. ↑ Thorn, Mike (February 2003). "THE TAKE - "Propeller" CD". Maximum Rocknroll (237): 132. Finally, a band that is melodic as hell but also dissonant as hell.
  21. ↑ Dave, Monk (January 2003). "TAKE, THE - "Propeller" CD/ 45:40". Fracture (23): 74. Musically, this band are super tight, complex (without sounding over-arty) and whatever noise they're cranking out on whatever song they may be cranking it out on, there's always a super confident melody bubbling just under the surface
  22. ↑ Artcore, Welly (October 2004). "SOUTH WALES". Maximum Rocknroll : 66. They've developed a tight, structured sound along the lines of some of the progressive bands of Washington D.C., and have always reminded me a little of JAWBOX/BURNING AIRLINES with a catchy pop sensibility.
  23. ↑ "The Take - Dolomite". Bombed Out Records. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  24. ↑ Dave, Monk (December 2003). "The Take". Fracture (25): 30. Playing with bands like DOUG, SHOOTIN' GOON and PUBLIC DISTURBANCE inspired me in a practical sense.
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