Monday, January 17
A bit part in a freak show - Ikara Colt RIP
A sad day as Danger! High Postage's favourite angular guitar band have called it a day after five years.
A statement of the Ikara Colt Website from singer Paul Resende said:
"Dear friends, just a quick note to say that the band will be splitting up as of now. We would all like to thank everyone that came to see us, supported us, heckled us. We produced two albums and countless singles and we always said that we would split up after five years and that five years is up, better to go out this way than to turn into some old, tired and jaded outfit. As we always said this was never a career choice or a lifestyle option and sadly most bands I see seemed to be for those reasons. Cheers once again, Thank you and good night."
It seems only coming second in the Danger! High Postage album of the year list hit the band harder than first thought....
I saw the band many times, the first being a blinding gig at the small upstairs room in the Jug Of Ale in Moseley, Birmingham. Then there was of course the infamous Reading stage invasion of 2002 that lead to them being axed from the Leeds leg of the festival (where I was!) the following day. The last time I saw them in May 2004 was a little bit of a disappointment, not because of the band, but because of the crowd at the Custard Factory. The 'Custarati' stood there stroking their cravats and refused to move, afraid of looking uncool for actually enjoying the music - something that The Colt could never be accused of.
Individually the band were all legends:
Drummer Dom - Hitting the skins faster than anyone else I've ever seen, his face contorted in concentration and pain, head bobbing, straining to get to the end of the song.
Bassist Tracy - Prowling the stage, thrusting her bass and swigging from a bottle of red wine.
Guitarist Claire - The secret weapon, hair looking as if it was made from lego, wringing her guitar within an inch of it's life.... but with restraint.
Singer Paul - With his Mark E Smith drawl, razor sharp lyrics and delivery. A twitching whirlwind of cynicism.
And let's not forget original bassist Jon - A man with the coolest leather jacket in art-punk.
Collectively they formed a perfectly balanced musical unit, playing no unnecessary notes - and so this is proven as they were as good as their word, splitting up at their peak and always retaining their outsider status
“We were never chosen for a sort of ‘inner circle’, I think in Britain especially you need the media just to get your message across to people who don’t know. We’ve never had that really.” - Dom, November 2004
I never actually managed to interview the band myself, but here's one of their final interviews from Artrocker.
"Ikara Colt showed that going to see a band did not have to be like seeing a film or an opera." - Big Dave has posted his thoughts over at our MP3 blog, Louder Than War, including his recollections of the stage invasion.
Links
Ikara Colt official site
Sinking Venice
Fantastic Plastic
Ikara Colt Deutsche fanpage
A sad day as Danger! High Postage's favourite angular guitar band have called it a day after five years.
A statement of the Ikara Colt Website from singer Paul Resende said:
"Dear friends, just a quick note to say that the band will be splitting up as of now. We would all like to thank everyone that came to see us, supported us, heckled us. We produced two albums and countless singles and we always said that we would split up after five years and that five years is up, better to go out this way than to turn into some old, tired and jaded outfit. As we always said this was never a career choice or a lifestyle option and sadly most bands I see seemed to be for those reasons. Cheers once again, Thank you and good night."
It seems only coming second in the Danger! High Postage album of the year list hit the band harder than first thought....
I saw the band many times, the first being a blinding gig at the small upstairs room in the Jug Of Ale in Moseley, Birmingham. Then there was of course the infamous Reading stage invasion of 2002 that lead to them being axed from the Leeds leg of the festival (where I was!) the following day. The last time I saw them in May 2004 was a little bit of a disappointment, not because of the band, but because of the crowd at the Custard Factory. The 'Custarati' stood there stroking their cravats and refused to move, afraid of looking uncool for actually enjoying the music - something that The Colt could never be accused of.
Individually the band were all legends:
Drummer Dom - Hitting the skins faster than anyone else I've ever seen, his face contorted in concentration and pain, head bobbing, straining to get to the end of the song.
Bassist Tracy - Prowling the stage, thrusting her bass and swigging from a bottle of red wine.
Guitarist Claire - The secret weapon, hair looking as if it was made from lego, wringing her guitar within an inch of it's life.... but with restraint.
Singer Paul - With his Mark E Smith drawl, razor sharp lyrics and delivery. A twitching whirlwind of cynicism.
And let's not forget original bassist Jon - A man with the coolest leather jacket in art-punk.
Collectively they formed a perfectly balanced musical unit, playing no unnecessary notes - and so this is proven as they were as good as their word, splitting up at their peak and always retaining their outsider status
“We were never chosen for a sort of ‘inner circle’, I think in Britain especially you need the media just to get your message across to people who don’t know. We’ve never had that really.” - Dom, November 2004
I never actually managed to interview the band myself, but here's one of their final interviews from Artrocker.
"Ikara Colt showed that going to see a band did not have to be like seeing a film or an opera." - Big Dave has posted his thoughts over at our MP3 blog, Louder Than War, including his recollections of the stage invasion.
Links
Ikara Colt official site
Sinking Venice
Fantastic Plastic
Ikara Colt Deutsche fanpage
