WORKING FOR A NUCLEAR FREE CITY

Though the band’s name might suggest otherwise, the members of Manchester rock outfit Working For A Nuclear Free City are not “a bunch of tree hugging hippies.” According to guitarist Gary McLure, the band plucked the name from a British street sign they loved for its “subtle ironies and suggestion of secret bunkers hidden just underground.”

The band’s quirky, mysterious name is a fitting match for their music; WFANFC creates lush soundscapes that are melodic and gripping without being easily sorted into any one genre. The band culls from electronic, dance, and shoegazer influences (as far reaching as Berlin-trilogy era Bowie and David Axelrod) in an earnest effort to bring something new to the table. “We want to create an alternative to the current retrospective trend in music,” says singer and producer Phil Kay. “We just want to keep moving into uncharted territory.”

This is not to say that WFANFC does not have a distinctive sound – they simply do not sound like anyone else. Beginning as the studio project of brothers Phil and John Kay and school friend Gary McLure in 2001, the group made only slow-burning instrumental tracks until they added bassist Ed McLure to the mix, who introduced dance beats and vocals to the tracks. “Sometimes a song doesn’t need words,” says Phil, “But we always intended to have vocals on these tracks.”

What resulted is an eclectic mix of orchestral, adrenaline-fueled dance tracks juxtaposed with quiet, bedroom pop songs and eerie, sparse, acoustic cuts. In the hands of another band, this eclectic mix of tempos and moods could feel cluttered; WFANFC's songs both compliment and challenge each other.

The band is no stranger to the live club scene, having made their mark on UK nightlife by crafting provocative remixes for artists drawn to the band’s unexpected treatments of old songs. “I never listen to the original track if I can help it,” says Phil. “I’ll take the coughs of the vocalist before he did his take and turn them into a beat, or take the string noise from the guitar and make them into a new instrument.”

What is truly exciting about WFANFC’s world is that there are no constraints; their recording draw from loose grooves, neat Krautrock touches, and even spoken word, and still feels like the work of a cohesive and musically-tight group.