Ac acoustics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The correct title of this article is ac acoustics. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
| ac acoustics | |
|---|---|
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| Origin | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Labels | Elemental Yoyo Recordings Cooking Vinyl |
| Members | Paul Campion Caz Riley Dave Gormley Mark Raine |
| Past members | Roger Ward A.N.Other (roadie turned keyboardist) |
ac acoustics are a critically acclaimed Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow, formed in 1990.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Arguably now a spent force, ac acoustics briefly flirted with a breakthrough in the mid-late 1990s. They were widely championed by the music press and by peers such as Placebo.
At their peak they combined dense, fuzz-heavy riffage with cryptic, poetic lyrics[1], before later introducing keyboards and moving into a sparser, more repetition-based direction. Initially, they owed a debt to The Jesus and Mary Chain — blending furious white-noise with early Pavement-style experimentation and augmenting their two guitar, bass and drums instrumentation with saxophones and violins.
Their first release was the 1992 five track Wrist Eye demo, notable also for featuring Gerard Love from Teenage Fanclub on backing vocals. The demo gained them a recording contract with the independent label Elemental Records, who released their debut single, Sweatlodge/MV, in 1993[2]. At this time, despite their relative obscurity, they displayed an aptitude for getting on the bill at relatively high profile gigs and opened for PJ Harvey, Spacemen 3 and The Jesus Lizard, amongst others.
In 1994, the band's debut album, Able Treasury, was released. Demonstrating a tighter sound, it was also notable for its unusual song titles[3].
Shortly after this release, Mark Raine replaced Roger Ward on guitar and the band began to move in a rockier, less feedback-drenched direction. This culminated in the 1997 release of the band's masterpiece, Victory Parts and gigs with Embrace, Stereophonics, dEUS, as well as a couple of tours with Placebo[4]. The band's acumen and wall-of-noise approach garnered them sponsorship from Marshall amplifiers.
Despite the accolades for Victory Parts in the music press, ac acoustics remained a cult act. They left Elemental and signed with Yoyo Recordings, releasing the EPs Like Ribbons and She's With Stars. They parted with Yoyo in 2000 and moved to Cooking Vinyl, releasing a further EP Crush (continuing the Placebo connection thanks to backing vocal contributions from Brian Molko).
The band's line-up was augmented by a keyboardist (who had joined the band as a roadie) and two further albums, Understanding Music and O followed, the latter being completed in a mere ten days.
The band have always preferred to be referred to in lower case typography.
They have featured twice in John Peel's annual Festive 50 chart, both tracks featuring on the Victory Parts album:
- Stunt Girl (Number 26 in 1996)
- I Messiah Am Jailer (Number 19 in 1997)
Prior to ac acoustics, Dave Gormley played drums for fellow Glaswegian band Thrum.
[edit] Critical acclaim and quotes
- Melody Maker review of Sweatlodge/MV — "two helpings of genius on one platter"
- Mojo review of Victory Parts — "this is rock as art, and Victory Parts is a near masterpiece"
- One of the frequent enthusiastic NME live reviews included the phrase "...ac acoustics' favourite colour is nuclear white"
- Having played their début session three times, John Peel was moved to say "...am I hallucinating, or are this band truly brilliant?"
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Able Treasury (1994)
- Victory Parts (1997)
- Understanding Music (2000)
- O (2002)
[edit] Singles
- Wrist Eye (five-track demo UK 1992)
- Sweatlodge/MV (7" blue vinyl UK 1993)
- Hand Passes Plenty (CD EP UK 199?)
- I Messiah Am Jailer (single-sided 7" UK 1997)
- Stunt Girl (CD EP UK 1999)
- Like Ribbons (CD EP UK 1999)
- She's With Stars (CD EP UK 1999)
- Crush (CD EP UK 2000)
[edit] Notes
- ^ Example (taken from Hammerhead): In this light/I wear my hammerhead high/On a big stick/With an ice cream float
- ^ the single was recorded for a paltry £340
- ^ for example, Mother Head Sander, Oregon Pine Washback and future live favourite Sister Grab Operator
- ^ Brian Molko was a relentless champion of the band and often wore a Stunt Girl T-shirt, including on Placebo's Top of the Pops appearance for Nancy Boy
