Perhaps Contraption

Perhaps Contraption

Perhaps Contraption is a Bristol-based group active since 2004 and classed as progressive rock, with connections to experimental, math rock, pronk and avant-rock. The group describes itself as an evolving collective that brings together spontaneous and technical playing, with a mix of humour, tension, and contrast in its performances.

Directed by Squire Squier, Perhaps Contraption takes influence from artists such as Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and Henry Cow, and works in a progressive, iconoclastic tradition. Its performances are shaped by fluxus-inspired actions and audience participation, with absurd ideas and objects moving through the crowd and becoming part of the show.

The group presents songs through narratives, with composition and improvisation closely linked in its sets. It appears in a range of line-ups and formats, from gentler solo acoustic performances to larger, carnival-like interactive concerts, with each show adapted to the venue.

Themes in the material include the effects of hot drinks, ecological and mental strain, a crumpled pensioner in London, and swans consuming cuboids. The project is also notable for its deliberately unusual self-description, which places it somewhere between avant-rock, performance, and experimental musical theatre.