Hometown: Buckinghamshire.
The lineup: Amber Ducker (squeaks) and Thalia Beard (shrieks).
The background: AT8 are one of two girl pop duos waiting in the wings at the moment, the other being Mini Viva, who seem a bit cooler, a bit more style mag. AT8 have a rather more low-rent charm. In short, they're less Hoxton Bar & Grill, more Harlequin Centre in Watford. Like MV's, AT8's songs are dancey, but they're slower, with slashes of guitar, which the girls actually plug in and play themselves, and they tend to speak-sing with a pseudo-bored sneer that is bound to have commentators swooning that they have "punk" edge. Not always, though – they've obviously been told (although they maintain that they're not media trained, that they do what they want, when they want, etc) not to turn that rap-singing thing into a trademark. They do proper warbling sometimes, only it's that generic, slightly shrill, anonymous Auto-tuned or pitch-shifted vocal sound that we've come to know and hear drifting over the Tannoy at Top Shop or wherever.
AT8, who were born in '88, hence the name, are managed by Amy Winehouse's team and are sassy/saucy suburbanites. They're a GaGa or Girls Aloud for girls who spend Saturday afternoons giggling outside Gap. And they are girls – not grrrls, the riot variety, as Radio 6 presenter Tom Robinson has suggested, writing on his Twitter page that they are, "Gtr-based delinquent B52s/Slits/Tom Tom Club grrrl trashpop." That's not their lineage. They're not a high street Huggy Bear – be serious - much as that notion appeals. They don't have a manifesto or programme of ideals. Unless you count, "We just go out on the piss/Cuz our names aren't on the list," as they tell us on their Skins-tastic debut single, Adam's Party. They've also declared their modus operandi to be "about having fun, rocking out and getting drunk", adding that their lyrics are inspired by "going out on the lash and generally fooling around." Sophisticated situationists they are not. They are scary, though. Thalia is the "fiery redhead who struts around like a sex mad singer" while Amber is the "platinum blonde who takes it off like a part-time stripper." They describe their chirpy electro-pop set-up thus: "We are two guitars and a drum machine … that's all we got that's all we need!" Their spelling and grammar are terrible.
The buzz: "AT8 are more punk than Gallows."
The truth: They insist they're "the complete antithesis of Dolly Rockers", but they're very much in that vein, only less cheeky and smart.
Most likely to: Misspell "insurrection".
Least likely to: Rhyme "seditious" with "Sid Vicious".
What to buy: Adam's Party is released on 5 October.
File next to: Mini Viva, Dolly Rockers, Lady GaGa, Girls Aloud.
Links: www.myspace.com/at8official
Monday's new band: Cold Cave.
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