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Sound Explosion

The Sound Explosion

Signed to label: Captains of Industry

Band Members

Glen Roughead - guitar & vocals
Kit Endean - guitar & vocals
Euan Macfarlane - bass guitar
Jamie Smith - drums

Boom!!

All still in their teens, The Sound Explosion formed in 2003 in Newcastle, England, part of the same fertile North-East live scene that has spawned the likes of Futureheads, Golden Virgins and yourcodenameis:milo. They topped Steve Lamacq's Radio 1 demo charts for three weeks and played that year’s In The City shortly afterwards.

In an age when the likes of Jet, Razorlight and The Vines are marketed – and accepted! - as the last word in authentic rock ‘n’ roll, The Sound Explosion are the real deal. Their roots lie in rhythm and blues, but it’s an R&B amplified and accelerated to new proportions; a hormonal-infused blur of flailing limbs, punk rock powerchords and a call and response gospel fervour where band and audience are one. Frontmen Glen and Kit are songwriters in the classic Strummer & Jones / Doherty & Barat mould, interchanging throughout and strutting like their spines are forged from steel. In short, they’re stars who’ve been waiting restlessly in the wings since their mid-teens.

Early days saw The Sound Explosion sharing stages with kindred souls like Dirtbombs and Supersuckers encouraging towns to testify nightly, then driving back up the M-way in their “Trojan horse” and straight into school and work in the morning. Sound Explosion 06.02.06 / Gary Wolstenholme

After being spotted by Captains Of Industry levelling Newcastle in late 2003 they recorded their debut album at Axis Studios in Doncaster during the summer of 2004 with producer Matt Elllis, breaking only to play a sold out UK tour in support of the The 5,6,7,8’s in August. A four-track sampler quickly circulated among the industry and suddenly The Sound Explosion congregation expanded. More dates followed on a sold out tour with label mates Hell Is For Heroes, and highly limited double-A debut single ‘Time After Time’ / Living In Caves’ sold out within its first week of release. Reviews appeared in Kerrang! and Daily Telegraph and more airplay came from Radio 1 and XFM. Fans have appeared in the shape of The Clash’s Mick Jones, various Premiership footballers and Rocket From The Crypt’s John ‘Speedo’ Reis.

If Jimi Hendrix, Jack White and Jon Spencer had a three-way, The Sound Explosion might just be the offspring. Their self-titled debut is a document of the here and now – the sound of youth influenced by five decades of electrified music and the world at large, their live show as furious as The Who in their hey-day.

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