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8:51 · 1,528 words of transcript · watch on YouTube
- The scene gets two competing names, the Windmill scene after the London venue and the Speedy Wunderground scene after the indie label, covering black midi, Shame and Squid alongside Black Country, New Road.
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- Six of the seven members came out of a band called Nervous Conditions, which broke up in 2017 when allegations of sexual assault were made against its frontman.
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- What makes a punk band sound cinematic here is the instrumentation, a saxophone and a violin rounding out the rock lineup, with Isaac Wood taking over as frontman.
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- Science Fair is the clearest sample of the method, jazz influence into a synth-driven spoken-word passage into a near heavy-metal outro, moving through movements so you cannot predict the next one.
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- Their early rise is credited partly to black midi, coming up at the same time and taking them under their wing.
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- For the First Time was cut live over six days with Andy Savours, who produced My Bloody Valentine, and the last two tracks draw on Jewish klezmer folk music.
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- The debut has only six tracks, the shape old progressive records used, which suits songs built as shifting odysseys rather than verses and choruses.
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- The closest comparison offered is Slint, another six-track experimental post-rock record from 1991 that grew a cult following in Britain, sharing the moodiness and spoken-word narration more than the actual sound.
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- Isaac Wood announced he was leaving days before Ants from Up There came out, citing sadness and fear that made continuing difficult.
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- The band have admitted being obsessed with Arcade Fire during lockdown, which explains the instrumental swells, the male and female vocal exchanges, and the dramatic piano and violin writing on the second album.
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