¡Forward, Russia! - An English alternative rock band from Leeds , who played from 2004 to 2008. Until 2006, the group named their tracks numbers in the order they were written. The debut album Give Me a Wall was released in 2006. The group often used the Faux Cyrillic stylization (using Cyrillic characters) and the name was written as ¡ФФЯWДЯД, РУССИСД! . After the release of their second album, Life Processes in 2008, the band split up. They reunited in November 2013 to play at the Centennial of the Brudenell Social Club and at the Live at Leeds festival. [one]
| ¡Forward, Russia! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| basic information | |
| Genres | indie rock , dance punk , postpunk ride |
| Years | 2004 - 2008 |
| A country |  England |
| City | Leeds |
| Where from | |
| Labels | Cooking Vinyl, Dance to the Radio, Mute Records , Vinyl Junkie |
| Composition | Tom Woodhead Rob canning Katie Nichols Whiskas (Sam Nichols) |
History
Formation and early years
The group was formed by Tom Woodhead and Rob Canning from The Black Helicopters and brother and sister Sam and Katie Nichols from les Flames! . [2] [3] The first concert was in April 2004, followed by demos that featured reviews by renowned Drowned in Sound and NME magazines : Convulsive and Brilliant Punk Funk.
April 2005 ¡Forward, Russia! together with the band This Et Al shows their first single "Nine", which was recorded on the label Wiskas Dance to the Radio . [4] [5] All copies of the single were sold out in a week. In the summer of 2005, Nicholas graduated from high school, and the rest of the participants quit their jobs to spend all their time on the group. In August 2005, the band released the single "Thirteen" / "Fourteen", after which they staged a UK tour. Also, in 2005, NME named the group one of the New Yorkshire scene representatives (along with The Research, The Sunshine Underground, Black Wire and The Ivories). [6] [7] The next release of Twelve appeared in January 2006 on Dance To The Radio, ranking 36th in the UK Top 40 Singles Chart .
Give Me a Wall
The next single, the new version of Nine, was released in May and preceded the debut album Give Me a Wall, produced by Paul Tipler and released May 15, 2006 in the UK. [8] Around the same time, they toured with We Are Scientists [8] and played with The Automatic , The Long Blondes , Howling Bells and Boy Kill Boy in 2006 on the NME New Music Tour . [four]
The band signed a contract with Mute Records , where “Give Me A Wall” was released on September 19, 2006. Also, the digital single “Thirteen” and two EPs with the leading tracks “Nine” and “Eighteen” were released. In 2006 ¡Forward, Russia! four times visited America with tours where they played on South by Southwest , CMJ Music Marathon . In Japan, the group signed a contract with Vinyl Junkie Recordings. The Dance to the Radio label distributed the album throughout the rest of the world.
Eighteen, the fourth track from the album, was released on CD and on a 7-inch vinyl record. This is the band’s first track to hit the UK Indie Chart . "Nine" was used in the soundtrack for the Burnout Dominator video game on the PSP . [9]
In 2006, a short tour of the UK and numerous performances in Europe, as well as performances in the United States took place. [10] The band played at the Redding and Leeds festival and appeared on NME and BBC radio. In November 2006, the band played on the MTV2 Spanking New Music Tour along with Wolfmother , The Maccabees and Fields . [11] "Nineteen" was released as the final single from the album to support this tour.
At the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium, ¡Forward, Russia! released the new song "Do not be A Doctor" - the first non-numbered song. [12] This track, along with the songs Howling Bells and The Pigeon Detectives, was included in the collection of the Dance to the Radio label, Out Of The Woods and Trees .
In February and March 2007, the group arranged a short British and Irish tour to complete the internal performance for their debut album.
Life Processes
The band recorded new material with producer Matt Bale in Seattle . [6] [10] On their blog, the group uploaded the working names of songs from the new album. The single "Breaking Standing" was the first material released from the next album. [13] The album was called Life Processes and was released by Cooking Vinyl in the UK on April 14, 2008, [13] Mute Records in North America and Vinyl Junkie in Japan. The Japanese release includes exclusive bonus tracks “Reflection Symmetry” and “Don't Be A Doctor”. Music magazines such as SPIN , Drowned in Sound, and The Independent wrote reviews of the new album. [7] [14] [15]
Current Status
In 2008, participants announced that they decided to take a break from ¡Forward, Russia! and that the band will not play or record songs in the foreseeable future. [16] [17] Their statement said: "The idea to make another tour without new entries is something that did not inspire any of us." [16] Katie Nichols moved to Nottingham to take an art course, and Woodhead worked as a producer. [16] The last known show took place at the Brudenell Social Club Brudenell festival on October 17, 2008. [18] In February 2009, it was announced that Whiskas had joined the Duels group. [19] On March 30, 2013, the group reappeared on Twitter, there were rumors of reunion, which were confirmed on September 9 in the form of a concert at the Brudenell Social Club, which took place on November 30, 2013, and then a second concert at the Leeds Town Hall as part of the festival Live at Leeds May 3, 2014.
Music Style
The musical genre of the group is described as " art rock ", "modern agit punk" and "high-octane dance punk." [7] [20] [21] When Give Me a Wall was released , the group was compared to the Bloc Party and NME described the album as: “a special English emo”. [20] [22] And about the second album they wrote in Pitchfork : "a curious melange of dance punk and hardcore." [23]
John Parels of The New York Times , analyzing a 2006 performance, said: “[their] songs do not contain rhymes or stanzas; they are filled with accidents and the indefatigable drum of Katy Nichols. The sound of the instruments is combined into a strong dance funk, and then suddenly opens. " [24]
Woodhead's vocals have been described as "a post-hardcore opera screech." [25]
Discography
Studio Albums
- Give Me a Wall (2006), Dance To The Radio - 53rd in the UK Albums Chart
- Life Processes (2008), Cooking Vinyl
Singles
| Title | date | Label | UK Singles Chart [26] | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Nine" | April 2005 | Dance to the radio | ||
| Thirteen / Fourteen | August 2005 | White heat | 74 [27] | |
| "Twelve" | January 2006 | Dance to the radio | 36 | Give Me a Wall |
| "Nine" | May 2006 | 40 | ||
| Eighteen | July 2006 | 44 | ||
| "Nineteen" | November 2006 | 67 | ||
| "Don't Be A Doctor" | February 2007 | |||
| "Breaking Standing" | April 2008 | Cooking vinyl | 195 | Life processes |
Notes
- ↑ Aubergine, Cath . ¡Forward, Russia !: Leeds Town Hall, Leeds - live review (May 8, 2014).
- ↑ “ Forward Russia! Hard working Yorkshire quartet ", Clash , retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ Annan, Nick (2006) “ Forward Russia! “Weird“ and “amazing“ ”, Clash , July 6, 2006, retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ 1 2 Wilson, MacKenzie “ ¡Forward, Russia! Biography ”, Allmusic , retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ Clarke, Betty (2006) “ ¡Forward, Russia !, Give Me a Wall ”, The Guardian , 12 May 2006, retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ 1 2 Mackay, Emily (2008) “ ¡Forward, Russia! LIFE PROCESSES ”, The Quietus , 11 April 2008, retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ 1 2 3 Dosanjh, Ash (2008) “ Album: ¡Forward, Russia !, Life Processes (Cooking vinyl) ”, The Independent , 13 April 2008, retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ 1 2 “ Forward Russia Album, Single & Tour News ”, This Is Fake DIY , March 13, 2006, retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ Altizer, Roger “ “ Burnout Dominator “Soundtrack and Songlist ”, about.com, retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ 1 2 “ ¡Forward Russia! Bio ", Drowned in Sound , retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ “ ¡Forward Russia! And Wolfmother Announce Tour ”, This Is Fake DIY , 3 June 2006, retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ Denney, Alex (2007) “ ¡Forward Russia! Don't Be A Doctor ”, Drowned in Sound , February 7, 2007, retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ 1 2 “ ¡Forward Russia! announce new album details ”, NME , 12 February 2008, retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ Modell, Josh (2008) “ ¡Forward, Russia! Life Processes ”, SPIN , August 2008, p. 100, retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ Patashnik, Ben (2008) “ ¡Forward Russia! Life Processes ”, Drowned in Sound , March 28, 2008, retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ 1 2 3 “ Forward, Russia to split? ", NME , August 13, 2008, retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ “ ¡Forward, Russia! Announce Split ”, MTV , 14 August 2008, retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ Webb, Rob (2008) “ iForward, Russia! announce last show ... for now? ", Drowned in Sound , retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ Now we are five Archived on May 2, 2014. . Duelsmusic.co.uk. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
- ↑ 1 2 Snodgrass, James (2006) “ ¡Forward, Russia !: Give Me A Wall ”, NME , 15 May 2006, retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ Marcus, Laura (2006) “ ¡Forward Russia! March Through NYC ”, SPIN , 29 November 2006, retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ Berman, Stuart (2006) “ ¡Forward, Russia! Give Me a Wall ”, Pitchfork Media , 1 August 2006, retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ Orme, Mike (2008) “ ¡Forward, Russia! Life Processes ”, Pitchfork Media , July 22, 2008, retrieved 2012-06-09
- ↑ Pareles, Jon (2006) “ Music Review: '¡FORWARD, RUSSIA!' Postpunk Resurrected Anew ", The New York Times , November 30, 2006, retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ Ackroyd, Stephen (2006) “ ¡Forward, Russia - Give Me A Wall ”, This Is Fake DIY , retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ “ Forward Russia (Link redirected to OCC website) ”, Chart Stats, retrieved 2012-06-10
- ↑ Roberts, David. British Hit Singles & Albums. - 19th. - London: Guinness World Records Limited, 2006 .-- P. 208. - ISBN 1-904994-10-5 .