From bit-part players to one of Britain's best new bands. How the hell did that happen?
Multi-instrumentalist Martin Slattery and frontman Anthony Genn have done their time in Elastica, Pulp, Black Grape and The Mescaleros to name but a few. Inspired by watching a Radiohead gig in 2004, they professed their regret to each other at not having played in their own bands, and before they could back out, they found themselves in a studio without a shred of music to work on. Hardly an ideal beginning, but the results have been astounding.\par
Debut Ali In The Jungle, one of the best tracks of 2006, was a bolt from the blue - a perfectly formed widescreen anthem that was both world-weary and chest-swellingly optimistic: a winning combination.
Back When You Were Good takes that template and runs with it, sounding more like Phil Spector than anyone has since the man with the crazy hair lost the plot. There's something utterly magnificent about hearing the vindictiveness of lines like "you're like a vampire, you suck everybody's blood" backed by sweeping strings and crashing kettle drums. Turn it up loud, and I guarantee your nerves will tingle.
The album Narcissus Road follows in February, and if it matches up to this, it will be very special indeed.
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