Tomorrow's music today. This issue: 65daysofstati'c
65daysofstatic are a Sheffield rock band who are distinctly different to their indie-bretheren. Combining drum & bass beats, glitches and synths over an instrumental rock template has seen them win over the rock press, Zane Lowe and the late John Peel. A relentless touring act, they once claimed to be ‘disappointed’ after only playing 91 shows that year.
We caught drummer Rob Jones on a rare day off to ask him how he
would describe the band.
Most of the time we're described as post-rock or electronica. In England post-rock is almost an insult in some circles but in Europe it's a compliment. We have pop sensibilities and you can definitely dance to us. Most dance music is faceless. there's no visual aesthetic but we have the intimacy that yOu get from live music. You recorded new album The Destruction of Small Ideas in Rosyth.
How was that?
It was great. It was just the four of us in a bleak councn estate in the winter. We wanted to isolate ourselves and concentrate on the album. We had four weeks to record — in the past we've had four days — and we were able to explore different sounds. We went to a local school to use a beautiful piano and a little girl timidly came in and asked if her dance group could practice in the room. An engineer said. ‘No! We‘re recording a rock album.” We felt very sorry for her.
For an instrumental band your tour diary on the website is
extremely literary.
Yeah. it's an OppOrtunity for us to have a rapport with fans. Being an instrumental band it’s nice to have a voice. you know? (Andrew Borthwick)
I Sub Club, Glasgow. Fri 27 Apr; Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh. Sun 29 Apr. The Destruction Of Small Ideas is released Mon 30 Apr on Monotreme Records.
(www. 65daysofstati'c. com)
Reviews
SKA
BABYHEAD
Trouble Fifth Birthday, Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Fri 6 Apr .0.
While it can be difficult to get excited about a live ska band on paper. even after the fact. it can be harder to maintain one‘s cool when they're up on stage. This troupe of oddball acid jazz throwbacks from Bristol are tipped for big things but so far their recorded material hardly sets my heart aflame. I harbour similar feelings for Kiwi festival men-gods Fat Freddy's Drop. to whom Babyhead provide an altogether harder. less dubby. British flavour
Of course if there‘s a party needing started you can't do better than a good stomp around. and giddying excitement here prevails in crowd and band alike. The charismatic outfit comprises guitars. brass and drums with a dynamic duo. perhaps hand- picked for their comedic disparity in height. providing vocal interplay and buoyant good humour. They make for a tight-knit ensemble. often literally moving as one. and with a livewire appeal that's never in doubt on the dancefloor. (Mark Edmundson)
HORROR PUNK
DIRTY WEE MIDDENS, LYCANTHROPE
AND BILLY LIAR
The Three Tuns, Edinburgh, Thu 12 Apr 0000
Dundee is spewing forth all kinds of interesting bands lately and Dirty Wee Middens are no exception. Despite slatherings of ghoulish make—up (as far away from The View as you can imagine). the Middens definitely have a pulse and it is racmg through a breathless set of angry-edged punk. bravado-filled rock and playful glam. Influences like The Murderdolls and Ramones are apparent on their debut album Crack Open a Cold One on Triple Silence Records. complemented by tongue-in-cheek covers as the band teeter on the edge of irony before abandoning themselves fully to theatrical playfulness.
Away from borne grOund they have a hard task but the hedonistic tone of the evening is set by locals Lycanthrope IiVing out a balls-Out. full-on rawk fantasy and the adept. taut Green Day- eSQue strummings of Billy Liar. By the end the scant crowd are Singing along to the catchy horror cliche lyrics. haying been won over by the pure musical evisceration of the Middens playing their hearts out. (Suzanne Black)
INDIE; THE DYKEENIES QMU, Glasgow, Fri 13 Apr 00
Despite sporting a moniker which sounds like a cbeebies show involving two conversing plant pots. Cumbernauld guintet The Dykeenies have made guick business of vaulting themselves into contention. The new standard MySpace malarkey ensured their first gig at Glasgow's ABC2 sold out and their Killers-esge synth pop went on to impress enough industry beds to earn a slot on the king-making Nil/7E Rock and Roll Riot Tour. The giddy rise predicted by some has slowed in recent months. but tonight. playing to an adoring crowd of Glaswegians. they go about proceedings With the confidence of a stadium band.
Songs like 'Pick You Up' and the single 'New Ideas' are sharp. but much of the rest lacks the new ideas to distinguish them from the rest of the baying indie pack. The towering choruses sound meeker live and sadly. for all their exuberance. as the set goes on The Dykeenies begin to appear increasingly half-baked. As it stands. while their flocks of devoted fans wetild be quick to differ. the fanfare that greeted their arrival seems difficult to justify. (Miles Johnson)
l: U TURF: RETRO POWER POP COMEBACK BIS
King Tut’s, Glasgow, Fri 6 Apr 0000.
They announce themselves like superheroes. maybe. or superstar wrestlers. starting out in silhouette and dry ice. turning round one at a time. ‘Hello! We are Bis from Glasgow. Scotland!‘ The palpable excitement that's been building all night spills over and they launch into ‘Tell it to the Kids'. which is kind of funny as all the kids are up the road watching The Horrors. Bis have grown into their showy screamy. pop—punk kitsch. now. the Teen C revolution tempered by the pain of pushing 30. Much has been said (Hi this publication and othersi about Bis havng been ahead of their time and much more reltwant to contemporary music than they ever were on Top of the Pops. but tonight is all about nostalgia. The drum machine fails. as it was ever went to do. and somebody shouts ‘sack the drummerf' as they were ever went to do. ‘Even l'm surprised at how high l used to sing.’ shrieks Manda. hoarsely. And the crowd forgives them everything and gets high on the joy of being 1.7 again. if only for a sweaty. exuberant hour and a half.
(Kirstin Innesl
.73.)? THE LIST 59
1’2; Apr May