The Operatives - 'Wait No More'

Innovative and wildy-original new young band hailing from Kingsthorpe announce details of debut album Wait No More and live show. If anyone's going to put Northampton on the musical map, it's these sketchy fruits - they're a bit special.

The Operatives have been making ripples on the music scene in Northampton for a few months now, but up until recently had remained something of an enigma. There was the odd magazine article about them and every now and again a song would surface on one band/music website or another, offering a real tempting-taster for anyone who was lucky enough to stumble across them, but they weren't playing all the usual pubs and venues on the live-circuit, so this elusiveness only added to the mystique. This, apparently, is all about to change. They are ready to make a belly-splash landing with the release of their debut album Wait No More and have just announced details of their first(ish) live gig at the refurbished Rockinghorse (back room of The Racehorse) on Abington Square in early February.

The Operatives are the twisted brainchild of Matt White and Ali Hart, two abundantly talented multi-instrumentalists from the 'orpe - I'll resist emphasising the 'mentalists part... Shit, I just did. They are both in their early 20s and have been been writing and playing together in various bands for over 6 years before settling into their current guise. Their prolific writing style has seen them pen over 200 songs, 14 of which make the final cut of the album. The live-incarnation of The Operatives features Jason Ducker on bass, Max Read on keyboards and David Storey on drums.

At the tail-end of last year, The Operatives were nominated in 2 categories at the BBC Weekender Awards for Best New Act and Best Song (for Giro Day); they were inventively described as being unpigeonholeable - hey it's a new genre.

Album tracks Vuman, Giro Day and Vultures have all been aired on BBC Radio Northampton's Weekender show in recent months and can be listened to again online at www.bbc.co.uk/northamptonshire.

You can also check them out on the highly-respected www.garageband.com, where rising musicians get feedback and exposure for their material. Songs posted on the site are given a star-rating out of 5 by empowered, independent musicians/music lovers, and Giro Day gained an impressive 4-stars from a notoriously-tough, anonymous reviewing-rabble. The band can also be found online at www.myspace.com/operatives where you can listen to, and comment on songs, or make a friend request to be on their buddy list.

Working under the wing of BandTherapy Management, The Operatives have recently finished recording their eagerly-awaited debut 14-track long-player called Wait No More and it's bursting with joy.

It was produced and engineered at The Lodge Recording Studio by Max Read and the band themselves, and is an outrageously, infectious trip through Matt and Ali's warped musical minds - with the blackest of humour skipping happily throughout its 45-minute duration. At times sounding unhinged, the vocal-harmonising ranges from bright and brash falsetto to the darkest, most satisfying of growls. There are sweet-mangled melodies, killer chainsaw-riffs and pulsating drums that drive the songs precariously along a cliff-edge, occasionally veering off, only to land on a lower ledge (platform-game style) with a trail snaking back to the top again.

And higher.

There are laugh-out-loud lyrical exchanges between Matt and Ali that are always the right side of novelty and their versatility and technical skills seem effortless; the tempo-changes deliciously unexpected.

The songwriting is incredibly accomplished, beautifully contorted and peppered with the most addictive of ingredients.

At this moment in time, The Operatives are the most exciting band in town and are surely destined for bigger things...

It's time to put the vibrant Northampton scene on the melodious map and no other band are more obvious pioneers.

• The Operatives have also announced that they will be playing their 'debut' gig on the opening night of BandTherapy's brand new live-music extravaganza, Operation Thursday on February 2, at the newly-renovated Rockinghorse. The line-up also includes, The Retro Spankees, The Phil Collins 3 and Faye Gibson. Doors open at 8pm. Admission £4. It will at last give music fans the chance to check out BandTherapy's Robert John Godfrey and Max Reads' interior-decorating skills, but more importantly, the brand new, state-of-the-art PA and lighting facilities. The Rockinghorse has been transformed into one of Northampton's premier music venues that will be to the benefit of all who play there in the future.

• http://www.myspace.com/operatives

Unit's in the House: Twinfest @ The Racehorse

Occasionally an album lands on the desk in my office that changes everything… An album that substantiates my standing in this inexplicable universe - a soundtrack to the ups, the downs, the… er… middles? Songs that make you laugh, make you mosh, make you gurn. Songs that even make you weep with unbridled, euphoric joy. Sadly, there’s not really enough room for a desk in my office/bedroom, and Toploader haven’t released an album for a couple of years now, but I have just been handed (yeah thanks) the debut long-player by Northampton’s don’ttakeourselvestooseriouslybutthemusickicksarsemetalwarriors, PIG UNIT. It’s called ‘Unified’, and it’s a bit special.The guilty parties are: Benny “The Voice” Toledo – Lead Vocals; Boabus – Bass; Fist Of Legend – Drums; Floyd L Scaramanga – Guitars/Vocals; Man Wid Mission – Percussion; Professor Bustyaleep – Lead Vocals; Stedman Cool – Guitars. The artwork on the CD (executed by The Hand @ http://www.gadsby.demon.co.uk/) is sublime, but can the music live up to the drama of the Transformers-style, robot-primate being encircled by helicopters depicted on the front cover? Well…?

DIFFERENT WAYS OF SAYING 'AYE'

How many different ways are there of saying ‘aye’? From the opening wah-wah funk-rock riff of Unit’s In Da House, with its shout-along chorus, you’re in for fifty minutes of pure rock bliss - think Faith No More/Tenacious D, if they’d come from a proper town like Northampton, (which incidentally is a constant source of reference throughout their music). It’s really difficult to describe just how good this album is in such a short space. It’s obviously been lovingly crafted with impeccable attention to detail. The songs all stand out individually, with fantastic raps, riffs, harmonising and themes you’ve always wanted to hear put down on record. Just check Northampton Rocks or Beaver’s Mountain - civic pride has never felt so good, or so metal.

UGLY BEHIND

The CD was also accompanied by a flyer advertising ‘Twinfest 2005’, the town’s biggest free music festival, at which the ‘Unit were playing an evening slot on Saturday night in The Racehorse garden. The Northampton/Marburg musical venture has been a real cultural, artistic spectacle for the last two or three years and at around 7pm, I sat on a wall with St Michael’s car park looming, ugly behind me. The clouds were gathering above, the sky was foreboding, and a washout was looking like a possibility. Then the intro music began (something dodgy by Ozzy), the heavens brightened and the scene was set…

The band drop-kicked proceedings into action with a booty-beating rendition of Ape Shit, and there was a shift forward towards the stage from the partially inebriated punters. The timing was just right, with most of the audience not so spangled that they wouldn’t remember the gig, but squiffy enough to want the party atmosphere to begin. It most certainly did.

The band ripped it up. They were parading new drummer, Gumtree ‘From The Country’ van Drumtree, who provided a real fluidity to the rhythm section, (oh and some quality drum-faces to boot), along with Boabus’ hair-swinging, funk-driven bass lines. Floyd I and Stedmans' twin-guitar assault, was like watching two chainsaw maestros, bound wrist to wrist in combat, standing on a plank of worn wood, precariously balanced over a pool of quicksand. New lead-singer Rocky ‘Rock’ Rockwell’s performance was both energetic and powerful, and rapper Prof. Bustyaleep’s authentic Canadian/NN1 drawl, came across as authoritatively as one of Jose Maurinho’s half-time team talks, as he prowled the stage.

IRONIC FACIAL MASTURBATION

While radioactive-orange cider was quaffed from the Notorious B.E.Z.’s alfresco bar, and munchies chomped from Burgermeister, Mike Hogan’s tantalisingly, frikadellan-fumed Bavarian barbecue, (for the first time Subway felt the pinch), Pig Unit powered through a punchy, frenetic forty-five minutes of quality music. The between-song banter was hilarious and the crowd interaction was something to behold, with Rocky handing his mic to a member of the audience for a bit of free-styling that made Big Brother’s ‘Science’ seem like he’s got skills. Y’get me? They may be a local band, but they’re certainly not just for local people. The website is well worth checking out – it’s interactive and everything, (you can even download the album, play games and stuff).

Just go to http://www.pigunit.co.uk/. What else you got to do at school or work? They will also be playing at The Rockinghorse on July 15, along with Chimpanman, Orwell Music and Sheep Thieves. If I don’t see you there, you’d better have a pretty good excuse.