| CD REVIEW 65daysofstatic |
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Band : 65daysofstatic Never heard about 65daysofstatic? Neither had I, so shame on us all, because the instrumental Sheffield based British quartet (composed of Paul Wolinski, Joe Shrewsbury, Rob Jones, and Simon Wright – x’cuse me for not bein’ able to tell you what exactly they do in the band – exceptions: read 2nd paragraph) has already released a total of 7 singles and EPs (one admittingly only in Japan) and now 4 full-lengths (the first 3: 2004’s The Fall Of Math, 2005’s One Time For All Time, and 2007’s The Destruction Of Small Ideas, through the Monotreme imprint). They were formed in 2001 as a 3-piece including Wolinski, Shrewsbury and Iain Armstrong, and went through a couple of line-up changes before stabilizing in the current one. Graham “Feeble” Clarke, a fellow member from the Tefosav collective, joined in March 2003, contributing to the writing of the band’s first single Retreat! Retreat! off their debut album. Drummer Ron Jones made the band a 5-piece, before both Armstrong (in May 2003) and Feeble (in June 2003) left. In December ’03 one Gareth Hughes had been recruited on the bass, but he left around the time of the release of the band’s debut album (Sept 2004), resulting in the installment of Simmon Wright to perform bass duties. According to my info source, members of other bands (particularly The Mirimar Disaster and Youthmovies) join the band on stage. Musically speaking, the band started out playing a lot of remix/ mash-up versions of songs by mainstream artists (such as Christina Millian, Natasha Beddingfield, and Justin Timberlake), the whole said to “…intersperce heavy and progressive guitar-driven instrumental sections with live drums and off-beat samples akin to Aphex Twin…” (from Wikipedia)but the band also wrote original material, releasing their first EP Stumble.Stop.Repeat on their own Dustpunk Records label (through which they also released two “unreleasable” albums and a DVD). The debut album was met with positive response from both media and fans, and the band promoted the album with two tours, one at the time of release, the other in January and february of 2005. In March the band released the EP Hole (title track off the debut album), and they again toured the UK in April and June (during the latter tour the band was “caught” playing new material). Second album One Time For All Time arrived in October 2005, and saw the band developing the incorporation of keyboard parts in their music (as oposed to the samples). Funny thing, originally the full-length was to be an EP only, but things just developed. The band again toured the UK to coindice with the album’s release. “Radio Protector” was the only single off that album, released in limited 7-inch format (first 1,000 copies all had a unique polaroid as cover, the remaining 500 had a xerox of N°1,000) in February 2006 (a new UK tour, sandwiched between other dates where they supported Hundred Reasons, was undertaken to coincide with the release). The band, by tthen already somewhat popular, then auctioned the very first of the limited singles, turning the proceeds over to Friends Of The Earth. The band continued to tour around Europe (for the first time), and an assortment of other non-UK places for most of 2006 (playing to their biggest of audiences yet at Japan’s Summer Fest), but convened in the studio in December to record their 3rd album The Destruction Of Small Ideas. Released late April 2007, it contains contributions by members of The Mirimar Disaster, Digitonal, and Circle Takes The Square. Before the release, the band already played Texas’ SxSW in March, and after the release the band embarked on a US tour in support of Fear Before The March Of Flames in July and August. The band released a new EP titled The Distant And Mechanised Glow Of Eastern European Dance Parties, in April 2008…a good excuse for the band to again set out on a tour (including Ireland, the UK, and several European countries) that same month, for their girst gigs in 6 months. In May and June of 2008 the band supported The Cure on their US tour, playing several headlining shows on the side during the same time. Live recordings were made of the band’s appearances at Madison Square Gardens and Radio City Hall and put together for the April 2009 (August for the US) release of Escape From New York. To promote the album 65 again went on a small UK and Europe tour. Earlier in 2009 the band hàd already toured the UK, to preview new songs for a new full-length. During Summer ‘’09, the band played an assorted couple of festivals (including Brugge’s Cactus Festival, Leicester’s Summer Sundae Weekender Festival, and the Festival Republic festivals in Reading and Leeds)…but after that the band’s absence from the live circuit was disturbing enough to create some rumors about their possible split-up. The truth is, the band was re-thinking their musical concept, having been confronted by interviewers whom discussed with them the pros and cons of being pigeonholed as a Post-Rock band. The band immersed itself in stuff like Daft Punk and other House music, and put their heads together to integrate that music which had passed them before into the new songs they were writing. The result is now heard on the 9 songs on the band’s new album. Already some have raised their voices that the album is too geared towards the electronical side of their music…personally I can only say that I’ve liked what I heard só much, I’m considering storing the album on my mp3-player for further listening sessions in the future. I mean, it’s weird to find Daft Punk-ism mixed up with great melodic guitar in one track, find the band sway off into Ambient on another track, and tackling the Electronics/ electric guitar equasion differently on yet another track! There’s even some Drum ‘n’ Bass tactics in a track like “Weak4” (not surprising this was also the first, Japan-only single off the new album). Now I’ve always been a fan of guitar/ electronics mix-ups, and I can only say that 65 have managed to bring an album which keeps the open-minded listener stuck to the front of his seat throughout the first listening session. After that, of course, the quicker among us might start to move their limbs and find it impossible to stay seated during a second session, but most listeners will be moving about during the third…frantically at the one moment, a bit more ref(ra)ined during the other! Wónderful album, and via myspace.com/65promotion you should be able to stream the compléte album, all 9 tracks, all 51 minutes of it…it just won’t work on my network computer, of course! Ach, the things the bosses will not invent to keep their underlings in a mooddy state of mind! Wouldn’t the world be wonderful if we all thought of doin’ good for one another, tried to help each other…like The Cure’s Robert Smith did by adding vocals to the track “Come To Me”, or that (girl) friend-of-the-band which added her chanted stuff to “Debutante”? By the way, We Were Exploding Anyway was apparently the first 65 album to be recorded with a producer. Can’t tell you whom, because the band didn’t divulge that info, but apparently the guy had Orbital as rintone on his cellphone, and that earned the guys’ instant and explicit trust! The guys already started to tour for this album in early March, but due to a family emergency they had to cancel dates in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. The dates in Japan and Europe (during the month of April) went on as planned, and the UK tour followed in may (ended the 16th). If you’re looking to find the band play on one of the Summer festivals, check the band’s giglist at their MySpace page or own website (www.) 65daysofstatic.com! Meanwhile, this is year-list stuff again, and as there’s a vinyl edition of the album out too, thàt is what I’m gonna be ordering at the local record store next time I get around to hauling my ass thaddaway! 98/100 Tony. |