Brand New You're Retro
Vic Twenty conjures up an image of defiantly
retro stylings, old 8-bit computers that predate PlayStations and
the rest of the current crop of entertainment machines currently
in circulation. Named after one of the earliest Commodore computers,
Vic Twenty - the pseudonym of Adrian Morris - is evidently
an electro fetishist, except that they really could be from 1981.
In 2003 Vic Twenty released a single 'Txt Msg' on Daniel Miller's
seemingly non-starting label, Credible Sexy Units - set up
specifically to release the single - and supported a rehabilitated
Erasure on the second leg of their 2003 tour to promote Other
People's Songs / Hits!.
How things change. Vic Twenty recall a time, epitomised
in Gary Numan's idolisation of the motor car or Kraftwerk's tributes
to pocket calculators and personal computers, when it was okay to
stand in awe of technology so much that you couldn't help but want
to write songs about it. Except that, unlike Kraftwerk's po-faced
idolisation of the autobahn (on my stereo as I write), Vic
Twenty know that you shouldn't take things too seriously. And so
we have it - perhaps the new Silicon Teens? Vic Twenty are
indeed an act who know how to bring a sense of irony to the occasion.
Vic Twenty were originally a duo, comprising Angie
Penhaligon (aka Piney Gir) and Adrian Morris,
and they found some cult success on the undergroud indie live circuit
with the resugence in interest - once again - in electronic pop
left in the wake of the likes of Fischerspooner, although for me
their sound is less 'dirty' than some of the other revivalists in
circulation at present. After 'Txt Msg', according to Piney, she
was kicked out of the band and has since released a debut solo album.
The new Vic Twenty single 'I Sold Your Heart On
eBay' (TSquare / Lucky Pierre Recordings PIER015) is released in
the UK on 14 February 2005. This will be followed by the debut album,
Electrostalinist.
   
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