Usually when PR people try to promote their bands and artists, they tend to use talk such as “the most original thing ever,” or “sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before,” and we just pass it off as a last ditch attempt to get some rubbishy band a last chance at the limelight. Nothing amazing ever happens and we’re all left disappointed and out of pocket.

However, this time we have found a band that does deliver something different and totally different to the rest. This is 65 Days Of Static, a four-piece from Sheffield who’ve been around for a good three years and are just starting to cause a few stirs to the idle music lover.

This is one of the first few dates of a mammoth two week tour which
sees 65 Days Of Static (CDs) trek around the country solidly to promote Radio Protector, the only single from their new album One Time For All Time. But be
warned! You may need to raid the attic to listen to it. This release is
a limited edition 7” only of 3000. The first 1000 also contain unique
artwork in the form of a Polaroid photo. Best snap one up before eBay is
flooded with them…

Taking to the stage, the 65 Days Of Static boys combine the glitchy and skittering
breaks of Aphex Twin and mix them together with the calming and
soothing grooves of Mogwai. These two conflicting musical genres
shouldn’t work in theory but they do, creating music that sounds like
rock, but can’t be as it combines elements of electronica. The band are
neither rock or electronic, but caught somewhere in the middle. Having
no vocalist at all could cause a problem to some bands as they could be
in danger of getting repetitive and dull with no frontman to get the
crowd going. But 65 Days Of Static thankfully don’t suffer from this. Instead of
standing still and nicely strumming their guitars, they strum the hell
out of them, leaping around the stage and generally in to each other
and nearly in to the crowd.

They enter the stage to the lingering piano of Drove Through The Ghosts
To Get Here; slowly it builds and builds before exploding into a fury
of drums and cut-up guitars. Tracks from their first album The Fall Of
Math are also played which kept the hardcore of the audience happy. The
Zane Lowe favourite Retreat! Retreat! got the best response of the
night with cut-up samples and vocals colliding in to a wall of static
noise. The set list was a healthy mixture of tracks from both albums
and a few new tracks were showcased too, displaying that they have
plenty more tricks up their sleeve for the future.

But it’s not all just about manic noise. The closer of the show, and the
point of the tour, was Radio Protector. Even though it’s March, this is
one of the singles of the year – a haunting piano is the main focus of
the song whilst soft and soothing guitars fill in the background behind
it. Think of it as a lyricless lullaby for adults.

[review by Matthew Laidlow]