Music
Press
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Discography
ALBUMS:
Sick Octave (Nov 2013)
Ornaments from the Silver Arcade (2011)
Superabundance (2008)
Voices of Animals and Men (2006)
The Young Knives ...Are Dead (mini-album, 2002)
EPs:
Oh Happiness (2013)
Junky Music Make My Heart Beat Faster (2005)
Split EP (2004)
Rollerskater EP (2003)
SINGLES:
We Could Be Blood (Nov 2013)
Vision In Rags (2011)
Human Again (2011)
Love My Name (2011)
Dyed in the Wool (2008)
Turn Tail (2008)
Up All Night (2008)
Terra Firma (2007)
The Decision (2006)
Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer) (2006)
She's Attracted To (2006)
Here Comes the Rumour Mill (2006)
The Decision (2005)
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Bio
SICK OCTAVE, THE ALBUM
Weve just made this album called 'Sick Octave'. Its our fourth studio album and its the best album weve ever made. It is of course only a matter of opinion, but that is our opinion. 'Sick Octave' is a fully self-produced, self-recorded album that is a totally free and unbridled expression of our love of music and music-making. Its as DIY and as filthy as we could make it. We wanted to make something dark and industrial, and a bit crass but with a sprinkling of pretty shit. We didnt go for producers or high-end studios, we just started recording the stuff that made us excited.
Its a lot rawer than our first three albums. We were keen to experiment with the freedom and creativity that computers offer and then mix that up with live sounds and field recordings. We built our own drums out of junk and sheet metal, and made our own synths and pedals. We spent hours messing around with sounds, nicking stuff off YouTube and recording in a disused airbase hanger.
We are pretty excited to be getting this record out. I dont believe that this is the effortless parpings of a band in a rut churning out another fan pleaser, so we truly hope you find this record different and invigorating, or at least interesting, or otherwise we hope you really hate it. Here are some of my favourite tracks:
'Owls of Athens' is a song about faded glory, delusion and then death, with a cool beat. We wanted an intense drum machine sound like Big Black. Its also full of homemade percussion, an old gas cylinder, metal bars and stuff.
'Something Awful' is a mix of all different musical styles that we like. Its got bits from Silver Apples, Bowie, Major Lazer, Led Zeppelin all mixed together. My grandpas Alzheimers inspired the lyrics, but I used that real experience to inform something more vaguely about metamorphosis. Its also about changing into some kind of super killer monster.
'We Could Be Blood' is really just about feeling so close to someone that you dont notice them, but theres this creepy/murdery side to it that I like. We borrowed a Hammond organ off Steve Winwood to record this, though Im not sure he knows we did.
SICK OCTAVE, THE LIVE SHOW
We are taking the album on the road in November for our first tour since 2011, but we didnt want to just rock up and play some songs and then go home. We wanted to put together a real live experience. Not like Pink Floyds The Wall, not so many lasers, but something that has an element of theatre.
The Sick Octave show is a total performance of the record from beginning to end, with set pieces, homemade instruments and dancing, all mixed together with a blast of spectacle.
The last third of the show will be a stripped-back set of our old stuff because we are not wankers.
BIOGRAPHY
Young Knives are Henry Dartnall (me),The House Of Lords and Oliver Askew. Im the big cheese in the band. I write a lot of the songs, play guitar and sing. The House Of Lords is my brother, and he plays bass and keys and sings a lot. He has a cool stage name, so fickle people tend to think he is the best in the band. Ollie plays drums and sings; he has the voice of a castrato and grade 3 violin.
Our first album 'Voices of Animals and Men' was really popular! We had three singles entering the UK Top 40 and the album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2007. In 2008 we released 'Superabundance', we got a couple of Top 40 singles and the album included our most synched track 'Turn Tail'; something to do with the big string section, I reckon. Then we decided very much that we needed to get away from major label pressures as it just didnt suit our temperament, and although it may have been a naïve move, we decided to start our own label, Gadzöök. In 2011 we released our third album 'Ornaments from the Silver Arcade', and this felt like the last record in a trilogy. This record has some of our favourite songs to play live, like 'Vision In Rags' and 'Woman'.
'Sick Octave' has been a new start for us. It has definitely been the most fun record weve ever made, and I think you can hear it in the tracks. We almost didnt make it a Young Knives record as it feels so different from what went before. But that would be a lie; it is totally a Young Knives record.
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