Website | Facebook
That Fucking Tank was formed in 2004 for a
one-off performance by friends-since-school Andy Abbott and James Islip who met
over an owl. Andy plays a specially tuned baritone guitar through guitar and
bass amplifiers, James plays a minimal drum kit. Their novel name, energetic
performances and manish volume saw them play all over Europe and the UK with
brain-mangling regularity, sharing stages and tours with bands including Hella,
Q and not U, Lungfish, Oxes, Unsane, Kid Commando, GI Joe, Chevreuil, Grabba
Grabba Tape, Poltergroom, US Maple, Neptune, Whitehouse, AIDS Wolf, Vialka,
Nervous Kid, Don Caballero, The Fucking Champs, Hoover and the like. The EP 'A
Document of the First Set' and the album 'Day of Death by Bono Adrenalin Shock'
(both Jealous records) capture this era.
Relentless touring, emigration from Leeds 6
and growing responsibilities outside of music saw the duo playing gigs at a
more regular pace in 2007, and the entrance of old pal and Kill Yourself band-mate
Giles Bailey who adds singing and physical-visual stimulation when possible. In
2008 That Fucking Tank fulfilled a teenage fantasy by playing on a bill with
Metallica at Leeds and Reading Festivals.
The newest That Fucking Tank album gathers
songs from the last two years of activity, with more extended grooves,
progressive structures and pop hooks for Reef's Gary Stringer to sing along to.
The album is called 'Tanknology' and was released by Gringo records in March
2009. Tanknology received smatterings of mainstream press attention and has
been the spine of the duo's live sets for the last year or so. New songs will,
at some point, be written and recorded.
That Fucking Tank is a band that operates
on DIY principles; booking gigs, recording records and making music in a way
that contributes towards the creation of alternative spaces to the boring
mechanisms of 'industry', and challenging the assumption that 'good' music has
to be made 'professionally' (i.e as a job).
Praise
for Tanknology
'A two-man barrage of drums and guitar that
sounds like war … contains the most righteous sound ever committed to tape.
Lightning Bolt and Death From Above 1979 might have been rocking the bro
beats’n’strings dynamic a few years back while That Fucking Tank were still largely
unknown, but it’s our boys from Leeds who look set to be victors in the longer
campaign.'
NME 8/10
'Chances are your heart rate will peak at
fuck me, this is mighty.'
Clash music 8/10
'This new album is huge fun and could (but
hopefully won't) have them on Jonathan Ross and a tour of Academy Venues by the
end of the year.'
Whisperin' and Hollerin' 9/10
'Petitions should without doubt be
circulated, then submitted to the UN, if this does not become a staple of indie
discos across the UK upon its release.'
The Skinny 4/5
'Tanknology’ reminds us of the base joy of
listening (and dancing) to riffs and drums played fast, over and over… It’s
fucking nuts and they’re fucking brilliant.'
Die Shellsuit Die 9/10
‘Brutal but also intricate, this is
singularly riotous.’
Rock Sound 8/10
'It is seriously good! it'll give your neck
riff-ache!'
Nath of The Brudenell Social Club via
Twitter
'A band you could easily imagine wearing
tight-blue faded denim jeans and matching jackets.'
Supersweet
'Get in that fucking tank, trundle down
south towards the West Country, search out Gary Stringer, dangle a microphone
off the end of the gun barrel and encourage him to start singing… sharpish!'
Sonic Dice 2/6
“Have you ever sat at home after taking
loads of drugs and spent an hour or two scanning randomly through Classic Rock
channels on the radio so at the end you have a vague recollection of some
really catchy, rocking moments, but you’re not sure if they really happened?
That’s what That Fucking Tank is like at the moment”
Pablo, Barcelona
No comments:
Post a Comment