¡Forward, Russia!
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Leeds, England |
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| Genre(s) | Indie rock Alternative Rock |
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| Years active | 2004–present | |
| Label(s) | dance to the radio | |
| Members | ||
| Tom Woodhead Rob Canning Katie Nicholls Whiskas |
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¡Forward, Russia! are an English alternative band from Leeds, formed in Spring 2004. Until 2006, the band only named tracks with numbers, in the order that they were written.
Contents |
[edit] Band members
- Tom Woodhead - vocals, synth
- Rob Canning - bass guitar
- Katie Nicholls - drums, shouts
- Whiskas - electric guitar, shouts, synth
[edit] Career
¡Forward, Russia! formed in early 2004 from Leeds band The Black Helicopters, of which Tom and Rob were members. They joined siblings Whiskas and Katie, and the band performed their first gig in April, closely followed by demos which received reviews from prominent music magazines such as Drowned In Sound and NME, who called it "Convulsing punk-funk brilliance from Leeds". In April 2005, ¡Forward, Russia! released "Nine", a split 7-inch single with This Et Al, released on guitarist Whiskas' label Dance to the radio. This single was reviewed by NME, who put it on their 'Radar'. By summer 2005, Nicholls had finished college and others had quit their jobs to take up the band full-time.
Single "Thirteen/Fourteen" was released in August 2005 on White Heat Records, accompanied by a UK tour. Also during 2005, the band was featured in NME as one of Leeds' forerunners in the so-called New Yorkshire scene. This was followed by several support slots and culminated in the band's first headline UK tour, which took the band to 37 different venues.
The band's next release, "Twelve" appeared in January 2006, on Dance to the radio, entering the UK Top 40 at 36. Their next single, a new version of 'Nine', was released in May, and would be followed by a debut album Give Me a Wall on May 15. They toured with We Are Scientists in early 2006 and they played alongside The Automatic, The Long Blondes, Howling Bells and Boy Kill Boy in the 2006 NME New Music Tour.
It was around this time that the first signs of Tom's electronic side project, AnteAter, began to show, with Woodhead making a MySpace page for it in early February 2006. Featuring no vocals on the tracks previewed, fans are still unclear on the direction of the venture.
"Eighteen", the fourth track to be lifted from the album, was released in July on CD and 7".
They also played in Leeds and Reading at the Carling Weekend Festival this year, appearing on the NME/BBC Radio One Stage. ¡Forward, Russia! performed at Holland's Lowlands festival in August, where the band performed their first non-numbered song. Instead of being called Twenty (the twentieth song the band have written), the song is named Don't Be A Doctor. The track was released February 12 2007 on limited etched 10" vinyl.
Currently, the band are writing new material and have recently finished a tour of the UK, ending March 6th.
[edit] Trivia
- "Nine" was featured on the soundtrack to the 2007 PSP game Burnout Dominator.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
[edit] Singles
| Title | Release Date | Label | UK Singles Chart | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Nine" | April 2005 | dance to the radio | ||
| "Thirteen" / "Fourteen" | August 2005 | White Heat | 74 | |
| "Twelve" | January 2006 | dance to the radio | 36 | Give Me a Wall |
| "Nine" | May 2006 | dance to the radio | 40 | Give Me a Wall |
| "Eighteen" | July 2006 | dance to the radio | 44 | Give Me a Wall |
| "Nineteen" | November 2006 | dance to the radio | 67 | Give Me a Wall |
| "Don't Be A Doctor" | Feb 2007 | dance to the radio |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official site
- ¡Forward, Russia! - Leeds Music Scene
- ¡Forward, Russia! - This Is Fake DIY
- Punkcast#1060 - Live video from Fontana's NYC - Nov 3 2006
- MC Steinberg interview during CMJ - New York Noise
- Dance to the Radio Official Site
