FORMULA ONE
THE FUTURE HAS NO 23
Release Date: 22nd May, 2000Cat No: DISCO0005
Format: CDS
SHIFTY PIT-STOP FOR FORMULA ONE
From Preston to Brighton in the space of five years, taking in eight different record labels in the process, Formula 1 warm up their engines for their imminent debut album with a one-off single on Shifty Disco. Theirs is a story of 200mph hairpin bends and the odd puncture.
Formula One were formed in Preston in 1995 by original Cornershop drummer Dave Chambers, sisters Kerrie and Emma, singer Lee and another Dave, for good measure. They released their first single, 'Aqua Manera', sung mostly in Spanish, on Kooky Records in 1996 - a split-single affair with Mick and Linda from Prolapse - before being snapped up by Fierce Panda a year later for a one-off single, 'Start The Ball Rolling'. From the very beginning their lo-fi hypnotic grooverocking attracted columns of enthusiastic eulogising and pleasing comparisons with the likes of Stereolab, Tiger, The Fall and Pavement. But it's not all cooler-than-a-penguin's-fridge left-leaning krautrock seriousness in the world of Formula One. There's the whacked-out bubblegum pop of The B52's and the space-cake psychedelia of Jefferson Airplane. There's fun and cornet-playing and the patronage of Boo Radley's Martin Carr, all of which have helped mould Formula One into the band they are now. The sort of band whose self-belief and determination have helped them through major label offshoot hell and signing to tiny labels that went bust before releasing a single record.
Now relocated to Brighton (well, Preston or Brighton - where would you rather live?), Formula One have returned to Kooky Records and are set to release their long-awaited debut album. But they wouldn't be Formula One if they didn't manage to slip in a sparkling new single on a completely different label in the meantime. And where better to do this than the home of ace, bloody-minded pop singles, Shifty Disco?
`Future Has No 23' is a wired and whacked-out motorik screamfest, all bubbling synths and high-wired harmonies. It's the sound of a university Maths professor dropping a tab of prime brown acid and taking his pet Uzi into the nearest fast food outlet; it's Kraftwerk's `Trans-Europe Express' hijacked by Grace Slick and taken for a couple of circuits of Silverstone. It's a race for the prize between pure pop and its awkward, ugly cousin. The result is a photo finish. The result is one of the strangest summer pop anthems you're likely to hear.
Caught your breath yet? Then play it again damn you!
The forthcoming Formula One album, 'Fullcircle' featuring 'Future Has No 23' is out on Kooky records in July.
For more info go to the official band site.