Dawn of the Replicants

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Dawn of the Replicants
Origin Galashiels, Scotland
Genre(s) Indie rock
Years active 1996– present
Label(s) eastwest, Hungry Dog (Flying Sparks imprint), SL Records
Website [1] The Band's Official Website
Members
Dave Coyle
David Little
Roger Simian
Mike Small
Paul Vickers

Dawn of the Replicants are an Indie rock quintet from Galashiels described by the All Music Guide as “one of the most inventive and uncategorizable bands on the UK indie scene”[citation needed]. Four of the 1997 line-up (Pringle, Vickers, Simian and Small) had previously worked together on the short-lived Scottish music magazine, 'Sun Zoom Spark'.

[edit] Band members

  • Donald Kyle: Bass & guitar (1997 to 2001).
  • Grant Pringle: Drums, guitar, keyboards & vocals (1997 to 2001).
  • Roger Simian: Guitar, keyboards & vocals (1996 to present).
  • Mike Small: Guitar, keyboards & vocals (1997 to present).
  • Paul Vickers: Lead Vocals & gadgetry (1996 to present).
  • Dave Coyle: Bass, guitar & vocals (2002 to present).
  • David Little: Drums, vocals & engineer (2002 to present).

[edit] Biography

Initially a duo (Vickers and Simian), the band released a mail-order EP in December 1996. John Peel and Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 1 DJs gave the EP substantial airplay. The band was expanded to a quintet and a second self-released single followed in the summer of 1997. They signed for eastwest, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. records. Before the close of the year, a few more EPs followed, accolades from the NME, and The Times newspaper declared them the 'best new band of 1997'[citation needed].

The 1998 single "Candlefire", taken from the debut album, found itself onto daytime BBC Radio 1 and reached number 52 in the UK Singles Chart[citation needed]. The follow up, "Hogwash Farm", faltered at number 65. That summer the band played both the Glastonbury and Reading Festivals.

Before his death, John Peel aired five sessions, four as Dawn of the Replicants plus a one-off session Vickers and Simian recorded as side project, Pluto Monkey. The band's single "Science Fiction Freak", taken from the second Replicants' album, made John Peel's 'Festive 50' in 1999. The album sold less well than its predecessor and Warners dropped the band.

In 2000 Vickers and Simian released an album and two singles through Shifty Disco of oddball electronica under the name Pluto Monkey.

After a break the band returned with a third album and a live tour in 2002. John Aizlewood wrote in Q (magazine), “being dumped by their major label in 1999 should have finished Dawn of the Replicants. Instead they took their always cheery, slightly off-kilter pop to indieworld and carried on as if nothing (save a drastic budget reduction) had happened”.

In 2005 the band took a trip to the U.S. to play at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. In recent years they have also recorded sessions for Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 1 and Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music. While on tour in the UK during early 2006 the band took part in the Abbey Road Sessions for American satellite radio station U-Pop and enjoyed video plays on MTV2, Mojo, NME, UNCUT, and Q all carried reviews of their fifth studio album, Fangs.

In 2006 ten years was celebrated with a 22 track singles collection, the first 1000 copies of which included a free DVD featuring live footage, videos and interviews. New tracks were recorded in early 2007 for the sixth studio album. Members of Dawn of the Replicants can currently be found working on projects including Paul Vickers and The Leg, The Stark Palace, The Stone Ghost Collective, Mike and Michi, COW and The Border Boogie Band.

[edit] Albums

  • One Head, Two Arms, Two Legs (eastwest, 1998)
  • Wrong Town, Wrong Planet, Three Hours Late (eastwest, 1999)
  • Touching The Propeller (Flying Sparks, 2002)
  • The Extra Room (Hungry Dog, 2004)
  • Fangs (SL Records, 2006)
  • Bust The Trunk: The Singles (Compilation on SL Records, 2006)