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Tiscali Showcase - The Subways
Tiscali Showcase - The Subways
The Subways headlined the sixth Tiscali Showcase at the Bar Academy Islington on Friday February 18th 2005, and you will be able to hear audio and see video from the night shortly on Tiscali Music.
More on The Subways:
The Subways are living the provincial kid's dream. Already praised by the NME and Q and tipped by Zane Lowe to be the definitive new band of the year, the trio made phenomenal strides throughout 2004 towards fulfilling that destiny. Not only did they support a veritable who's who of the alternative music scene - Graham Coxon, The Von Bondies, The Datsuns, Charlotte Hatherley, The (International) Noise Conspiracy and a phenomenally confident display at The Tears debut at Heaven - but they were also handpicked by Michael Eavis to perform on The Other Stage at Glastonbury and also played at the Reading and Leeds festivals. Needless to say, Infectious were suitably impressed and snapped them up, giving them their own City Pavement imprint. Not bad going for any band, let alone one with an average age of eighteen emerging from the suburbia of Welwyn Garden City.
Such achievements are beyond that of chance; The Subways have built a cult following with the simple formula of writing material of the quality you'd expect from seasoned songwriters but performing it with the kind of reckless abandon that crackles with the intensity, soul and sexuality that only the exuberance of youth can truly provide.
The trio bonded on a love of Nirvana, Oasis and The Prodigy like any kids of their age. However Billy professes to have a fond passion for Tamla Motown and Charles Bukowski.
"Being in a band hasn't made much difference to us as brothers," considers Billy. "We've always been a team. We used to play football together, then we used to nick stuff off peoples clotheslines. It's just another part of life for us, a natural progression."
Now signed to City Pavement/Infectious Records, The Subways have been hard at work recording their debut album in Liverpool with producer Ian Broudie (The Zutons, The Coral, Echo & The Bunnymen). The band are particularly enamoured by Broudie. As Billy enthuses, "He's amazing. He's always got this pro-artist formula, he knows about the importance of getting the raw aspect of the band out as well as working on the sound and the ideas behind the song." The end result is that The Subways have delivered upon their promise by delivering a work that bursts with their trademark energy and yet also captures their phenomenal songwriting ability.
The first City Pavement/Infectious single, 'Oh Yeah' (due out in March), is a dirty hybrid of punk, garage and true soul with Billy's powerful howl neatly offset by Charlotte's sassy and understated backing vocals. It's a track that's certain to introduce the charms of The Subways to their widest audience to date.
By the time their debut album is launched in June, The Subways will be the name on the lips of every music lover and also one of the most hotly tipped name on the festival circuit. For Billy, however, it's all about the music.
"All I want to do is to make a really great batch of records to leave behind."
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