Klaxons Emerge from the Underground:
The Klaxons debut single "Gravity's Rainbow" was released in April, 2006 in a 500-copy vinyl limited edition on Angular Records. The song's title comes from the Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name. A second single, "Atlantis to Interzone," echoing, in part, William S. Burroughs, appeared on the new Merok label. This second single generated publicity for the band in the British music magazine NME and the song garnered airplay on the BBC's Radio 1.
Band Members:
- Jamie Reynolds - Vocals, Bass Guitar
- James Righton (aka The Cat) - Vocals, Keyboards, Bass Guitar
- Simon Taylor-Davis (aka Captain Strobe) - Guitar, Backing Vocals
- Steffan Halperin - Drums, Backing Vocals
Label Bidding War:
The quick emergence of Klaxons into the public consciousness set off a record label bidding war to sign the new band. Group members told NME they were even offered a trip into space by one label. Ultimately Klaxons signed with Polydor who released their first Klaxons single "Magick" in October, 2006 and watched it climb to #29 on the UK pop singles chart. The band headed to the studio to put together their debut album.
Quote from Klaxons' Simon Taylor-Davis:
In interview with Music OMH:
"I think imitation is just a horrible thing. We were just something a little bit different to what was going on."
Myths of the Near Future:
Klaxons are considered to be part of a style of UK pop music called New Rave. The style blends elements of punk with 90's electronic rave dance music. The band worked with producer James Ford to put together their album Myths of the Near Future named after the short story collection by writer J.G. Ballard. The album's release was preceded by the single "Golden Skans" which hit #7 on the UK pop singles chart.
