Sept. 28 – Los Angeles, CA Dimmak Party
Sept. 29 – Los Angeles, CA Neighborhood Festival
Sept. 30 – Los Angeles, CA LAX DJ Set
Oct. 2 – Calgary, AB Hi Fi Club
Oct. 4 – Vancouver, BC The Plaza Club
Oct. 5 – San Francisco Rickshaw Stop
Oct. 6 – Chicago, IL Vic Theater w.KLAXONS
Oct. 8 – Washington, DC 9:30 Club w.KLAXONS
Oct. 9 – Philadelphia, PA The Fillmore @ TLA w.KLAXONS
Oct. 10 – Toronto, ON Opera House w.KLAXONS
Oct. 11 – Boston, MA Great Scott
Oct. 12 – New York, NY Webster Hall w.KLAXONS
How many bands do you know who cart generators half a mile down disused railway tunnels, install light systems and play all night to half a city’s ravers?
Who else plays lock-ins where you’re actually locked in by the bouncers for hours on end and only allowed out when you’ve worked up just the right amount of sweat and gurns (that’s British for a certain face one pulls after consuming certain substances) in one night.
Who else buys a caravan off of eBay and builds a soundsystem within, simply because they’ve been evicted from their apartment for too many public order offences?
We kid you not when we tell you of such archaic tales and tribulations of this Glaswegian turbo-raving foursome, otherwise known as Sh*tdisco. Even their name is sure to prove a slight problem for their publicity firm which in itself is exactly why we at Magnum simply love ‘em!
We give you anarchy inspiring Sh*tDisco (one of the many invented terms coined by foursome) shot to fame last year playing and partying their way round the ‘turboraves’ of Europe, stunning even hardy Klaxons fans on the NME Indie Rave Tour in a fluoro frenzy that lasted all year and shot adrenalin into the dreariest remaining schmindie fans.
Four post-art school boys raised on a diet of Talking Heads, The Prodigy, Donna Summer and anything in between (as long as it’s edging towards 2000 RPM), bassist Joe Reeves, other bassist Joel Stone, um, third bassist (and keyboard wizard) Jan Lee and drummer Darren Cullen came together as Sh*tdisco in 2003. From a disused tenement block in Glasgow’s now-gentrified West End, they eschewed the traditional gig scene (a wise move as Glasgow’s Sauciehall Street is, in the bands own words, “like Rome at the height of its decadenceâ€) instead hosting massively over-subscribed free-for-all parties.
About to release their debut album “Kingdom of Fear†– the more you get to know these guys, it’s clear they’re not all about simply causing havoc to themselves and their surroundings but actually have a little more of an intellectual angle and somewhat political angst to their songs and lyrics. Listen closer and it’s clear that Kingdom of Fear should not be overlooked at as mere med-fuelled madness.
First single and schizoid disco-punk manifesto ‘Disco Blood’, for example, with the hazily joyful chorus of “got that disco feeling on my mind, got it in my blood†seems pretty simple. In fact it’s a reference to the feeling AIDS sufferers felt when the disease first emerged. Look closely, and you’ll notice the band’s incessant partying is actually their political statement. Bassist Joe says of juggernaut follow-up track ‘Reactor Party’: “it’s from the Russian concept of holding parties in nuclear reactors. It’s a vague political aspiration, having a party in a government funded place.â€
This defiance is the centrifugal force in everything that Sh*tdisco do. “Playing party music for us is rooted in political ideas†says Joe, “We’re unable to change anything even by voting, so partying is a political statement. You don’t go to work or do what you’re supposed to be doing. You party for days on end instead.†So, a futile trek to the polling station to push forward the next corruptive impotent government, or spend days on end gurning your face off (it’s imperative, Americans learn such a term in this day and age) – the choice is yours.