Cargo Records

• FOCUS ON: The Sound Explosion

• Official Website >>
• Label: Captains Of Industry >>
• Genre: Rock

On a myth-making mission of gospel punk destruction and soul salvation.

The Sound Explosion formed in late 2002, straight out of school. They are Kit Endean (vocals and guitar), Glen Roughead (vocals and guitar), Euan MacFarlane (bass), Stevey Gibson (drums), all aged between 17 and 20 years old. The band name is dumb and obvious and deliberately self-explantatory; life is too short for abstractions and conundrums. They come from the in and around Newcastle - Wallsend and Monkseaton, since you ask - but have never appeared in Byker Grove.

The Sound Explosion live show is just that - a short, sharp blur of flailing limbs, megaphones and ridiculous poses the likes of which havent been seen since the early days of the Manics. The stage is usually abandoned seconds in with the band taking to the crowd to liven things up, a hazardous endeavour which keeps drawing people back to their shows Musically its a collision of raw punk, blues and a call-and-response gospel fervour with reference points taking in MC5 and The Clash, The Hives and Jon Spencer, though someone quite famous reckons they sound like Blue Cheer, but we wouldnt know about that; lets just say its the sound of youth influenced by five decades of electrified music .

They played In The City in September 2003, received rave reviews and zero interest from the pony tail boys of Soho Square and High Street Kensington. They werent bitter. Steve Lamacq was playing them on Radio 1 soon afterwards and they topped the listeners unsigned slot for three weeks straight. More importantly, their hair is impeccable - a melange of white boy fros, feather cuts and swinging bangs - and their footwear is untouchable, their winkle pickers and cowboy customised to stamp and glide across stages.

By 2003 The Sound Explosion were Newcastles most loved and hated band; theres little room for indifference. In a localised scene of underachievers no one wants to see a band half their age shouting twice as loud, two inches from their face. Many think the The Sound Explosion are cocky fuckers with too much swagger and theyd be right. But offstage, as is so often there, theres a quiet-spoken earnestness there so totally at odds with their gospel fervour. Music is far more important than merely getting fucked up - the north-east is full of drunks, why not do something different with your time and money? The rise of the Sound Ex coincided with the emergence of north-east renaissance bands such as yourcodenameis:milo, Futureheads, Golden Virgins, though they have little in common with them; The Sound Explosion cut their teeth in their own cultural vacuum.
"You dont need 230 synths to make it sound good," says Glen. "Its boys and their toys - once you pick up a guitar and play three chords youre hooked. You play your favourite song. Its like a drug."

At the start of 2004 they hooked up with the Captains of Industry collective and spent the year playing with the likes of Eastern Lane, The Paddingtons, Hell Is For Heroes, The Hunches, The Dirtbombs etc and recorded their self-titled debut album in two long hot weekends with producer Matt Elliss in Doncaster. In August 2004 they were personally invited to tour with The 5678s in the very week the Japanese trio had a hit with that real annoying song, playing The Telegraph and Metro for the umpteenth time. Their first drummer Jamie left to persue his second year studies in astro physics.

In August 2004 The Sound Explosion also released highly limited debut single Time After Time / Living In Caves which has now sold out and made it into Playlouders critics Single of 2005 list.

In December 2004 they toured the UK again, this time as guests to fellow sexy soul punks The (International) Noise Conspiracy who were calling them the future of rock n roll by the end of the tour. Yeah, it was a blast. Semi-mythical ten minute sets of "hate and bile" were undertaken and the band lived purely on bread for a week. They picked up great reviews and interviews in Kerrang!, Rock Sound, Big Cheese, Playlouder, Metal Hammer, DrownedinSound etc and airplay on Radio 1, XFM yada yada.
In January 2005 The Sound Explosion toured once again, this time with Scots art-rock teen trio Alamos. Second released Street Freak / Night Train To Morning was out March 2004

Their self-titled debut album was released March 28th and quickly sold out its run, now on the second run and touring with the Mooney Suzuki and Million Dead amoungst others The Sound Explosion are making fans far and wide.

Shake your feathers.