20-year-old James Flannigan (vocals, guitar) and 21-year-olds Charlie Wride (lead guitar), Matt Harris (bass) and Tom Slaytor (drums) specialise in bright, fresh tuneage; pushing guitar pop in an exciting new direction with a collective set of influences ranging from Biffy Clyro to McFly. You can hear the lot – and a whole bunch more – in the band’s debut single ‘Ultraviolet’, which sets out the band’s stall with nonchalant ease: it’s fizzing with vim and vigour, topped off with one of the biggest choruses you’ll hear all year. “The song’s about the aura of a girl – the sort of energy that’s all around but you can’t quite see or touch,” James says. “It’s in classic ‘I can’t explain how you make me feel so I’ll use the spectrum of light territory….”
It would be helpful at this point to be able to state that the band’s name combines the iconic punk pedigree of Stiff Records with the depth and integrity of Bob Dylan’s lyrical back catalogue: the truth is that the band nicked it out of a book. Or, to be more precise, the entire band comes from a book: Tom and James met Matt and Charlie when the two pairs of friends were recruited to play the part of Stiff Dylans, a fictional band in the film adaptation of Louise Rennison’s cult novel Angus, Thongs & Full Frontal Snogging. Halfway through filming, the band realised they had something and got on so well that they formed the band in real life.
After grabbing this opportunity with all eight hands they’ve grown into the band so effortlessly that it seems they’ve been around for years. The way things are going, they’ve got big things on the horizon.
“We’re getting stiffer by the day,” Tom grins, “so I guess we’re earning our name.”
... What more can we say?
music
~ Charlie: Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro, Billy Talent, Incubus, Fall Out Boy, etc ~ Tom: The Police, Kings Of Leon, MGMT, The Libertines, The White Stripes, Jay-Z ~ Matt: Jamiroquai, Maroon 5, Avenged Sevenfold, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, The Police, any Motown
movies
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (of course!)
tv shows
~ James: Skins, Lost, Family Guy, Flight of the Conchords, Friends, Mighty Boosh ~ Matt: Futurama, American Dad, South Park, Family Guy, Simpsons, 24, How I Met Your Mother.
Band Members
James Flannigan - vocals, guitarCharlie Wride - lead guitarMatt Harris - bass Tom Slaytor - drums
Website
