Tango in the Attic

Scottish four-piece Tango In The Attic are selling themselves short with the self-appointed “sloppy offbeat pop” tag attached to their new EP, Crushed Up. While, sure, the lines between the various psychedelic pop touchstones here blur and waver like a spinning Magic Eye photo, the set feels more masterfully crafted than haphazard.
That control is embodied off the bat on “Sellotape”, guitarist/vocalist Jordan Craig repeating the mantra”I don’t care what you think/ I don’t care what you say,” things culminating in a blend of Animal Collective tribal clatter and buzzing chiptune synth. Craig’s reverb-laden and accented vocals can get hazy, though when he sighingly discusses a fickle love and how “she promised me in dulcet tones/ supple joints and milky bones/ a juicy pear and precious stones” on EP standout “Easybones”, the connection is instantaneous. That spark is only fueled by the track’s gleefully groovy horn loop, marimba arpeggios, and one catchy hook.

While closer “Crush” is similarly doused in acid and Paul Johnson’s bonfire-side rhythms, the choppy acoustics of “Pillowcase” show that Tango In The Attic can strip away the psych layers to reveal the indie pop core. While Jonathan MacFarlane’s layers of organ and electric ephemera make for a dreamy soup elsewhere, the simplicity and clarity of Craig’s promise that “I’ll be yours again” warm the heart just as easily.

After two well-regarded LPs, Tango In The Attic have taken the next step in their process and smashed it into a small dose of fine, psychotropic powder for easy consumption. Crushed Up hits the pleasure center of the brain all the more quickly, its highs derived from a fresh blend of frenetic, rapturous music and clarion emotionalism that bodes well for their in-the-works third LP. - Consequence of Sound

These past few weeks Trevor has been showcasing some of his favorite bands from the UK including The Cribs, The Vaccines, Jake Bugg and tracks from Zulu Winter and Bobby Tank on the June edition of our Playlist of the Month, but now it’s my turn to share my current obsession from across the pond– Tango In The Attic.

I stumbled across the Scottish four-piece purely by chance and was immediately drawn to their sound, so much so that I have listened to their new record Sellotape front to back an average of 5 times per day for the last 5 days…Clearly I wasn’t kidding when I used the word “obsession.”

Sellotape was released at the end of last month and is the follow-up to the group’s 2010 debut Bank Place Locomotive Society, which received critical praise in the UK as well as gained some traction on the CMJ charts in the States. As I read many of these reviews for BPLS, I had to cross-check and make sure that the record I had been listening to over and over again these last few days was indeed created by the same band. The reviews drew many comparisons to groups like Vampire Weekend and The Drums, neither of which crossed my mind while listening to Sellotape. Maybe the band grew tired of the comparisons, maybe it was a natural progression in their sound. Either way I won’t strain myself to find an answer as I am enjoying the sound that they arrived at just fine.

The opening track “Stitch” draws you in with mysterious synths, almost like a friend pulling you close to whisper a secret, only to slap you in the face with a flurry of guitar and drums. I hope your friends don’t slap you in the face with heavy musical instruments, but if Tango In The Attic did it to me, I would be just fine with it. There are also tracks like the lead single “Swimming Pool” where the effects are laid on thick and you can’t help but lose yourself in a swirling sea of synth.

Throughout the album the band does a fantastic job of changing pace between songs, even within songs, a characteristic that keeps you on your toes while also creating a more active listening experience. Tracks like “Paw Prints” and album closer “Family Sucks” are perfect examples of this quality and are certain to encourage repeat plays of each track, and if you’re like me, the whole album.

After presenting me with complete aural satisfaction for the past week (see what I did there?) I only have one request of the band– please come play in the US this summer.

Oh and one request of you readers as well– listen to the fuckin record! - Maimed and Taimed

Tango In The Attic
Sellotape
(Domicile Crocodiles)
* * * *

This Scottish four piece echo many famiar sounds, from the offbeat summery pop of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart to Real Estate and The War On Drugs, as well as the great jangle-beat heritage of Scotland’s very own Pastels.

However, Tango In The Attic stamp their own authority on proceedings from the offset of opener of ‘Stitch’, with its rumbling bass line wrapped around the forever spiralling and duelling guitars.

Above all, it’s the band’s breadth that impresses, from their ability to really put the boot in with a thumping rhythm section to the tip-toeing guitars that dance around in the melodies, creating something melancholic yet demanding of your attention; ‘Paw Prints’, ‘Mona Lisa Overdrive’ and ‘Chewing Gum’ all display this perfectly.

Meanwhile, the almost slacker vocal delivery gives the impression of Long Island ice teas and sunglasses rather than the administrative capital of Fife. The future should be good for Tango in the Attic if they keep on like this. - Artrocker

had an interesting, albeit brief, Twitter conversation earlier in the week, in which someone raised the point that ‘too many mistake seriousness in pop for intelligence and fun for stupidity.’ It was in relation to a simple yet astonishingly effective recently-released album, but those words could apply just as easily to the new album from Scottish math-pop types Tango in the Attic [Twitter/Facebook], which manages to balance intelligence and fun extremely well, and throw in a metric ton of brilliant hooks while it’s at it.

It’s an extremely busy-sounding album, too: there’s a lot going on in each of the album’s nine tracks, and though it would be easy to say that everything else involved in the propulsive opener Stitch is drowned out by some prominent riffing, its euphoric hooks mask the fact that the band have unpredictable indie-pop down to a fine art. These are the sort of songs which, once you feel you’ve gotten a handle on them, immediately veer off into another direction. The same can certainly be said of recent single Mona Lisa Overdrive, which waits until it can be pigeonholed before spinning off into something else entirely.

In the context of the album, that song sounds almost straightforward, but it is songs like Paw Prints and the Animal Collective-esque 198 Alpaca (the latter of which makes use of an impressively complex time signature, as well as similarly impressive drumming from Paul Johnson) that give a better indication of Tango in the Attic’s new sound, a mixture of lo-fi, garage and any number of other things. They don’t feel like being boxed into any particular genre, and this sort of restlessness is reflected in the way the album is structured: a lot of the songs flow into each other, making for quite a cohesive listening experience.

It would be easy to call Sellotape a front-loaded album, and it certainly doesn’t help that the first four songs are some of the best material the quintet have written so far, but, quite ironically, the album doesn’t properly hit its stride until Suncream, the song which brings the band’s forward-thinking style to the fore and wreaks havoc upon conventional song structure; at the same time, the album’s genesis lies in pop music, and this is no more apparent than on penultimate track Swimming Pool, a wonderfully danceable song which also spends half its time in a 7/8 meter – odd time signatures and danceable music can certainly go together, though anyone wanting to strut their stuff to much of the material on this album had better come up with a new set of moves. Sellotape is that rarest of albums which proves that even though intelligence and fun can be hard to come by in the same pop song, they can certainly co-exist, because this is one of the most enjoyable albums you’ll hear all year.

Sellotape is released on May 28th via Domicile Crocodiles. - The Blue Walrus

Hearing the words “Scottish” and “music” in the same sentence, we have come to know what to expect. A flourishing – though somewhat incestuous – scene, much of it has begun to sound blandly similar…until now. Sellotape is like a carcrash between that well-known style of Scottish folk-indie rock and the modern style of happy, electro pop that is slowly emerging. However, no need for alarm, as it’s all good.

Formed in 2008 in Glenrothes, Fife, Tango In The Attic consists of childhood friends Jordan Craig (vocals / guitar), Jonathan McFarlane (guitar), James Crook (bass) and Paul Johnson (drums). Their LP Bank Place Locomotive Society, released in 2010, was well received by critics and gained plays on BBC 6Music and Absolute Radio, as well as garnering the prize of BBC Radio 1 Scotland’s album of the month. That said, the expectations were set high for their next full-length.

So, what’s the verdict?

With Sellotape, Tango In The Attic offers us a noisier, but tighter, sound and any pop tints heard on the band’s previous work have had to step down a wee bit. We see clear progression toward a more garage-influenced sound. Perhaps this was done to shake off any former comparison to Vampire Weekend – if that’s the case, they’ve succeeded. The lads are experimenting a lot more with electronica this time round, and doing done it well, though still keeping enough heavy cymbal bashing and raw basslines to keep it out of the deathly vague “indietronica” pigeonhole.

Record opener Stitch starts off with raw bass, vibrant guitar and grinding garage to then turn into an energetic electropop stomper that would work wonders at any live show. In fact, most of the tracks on the record achieve this height.

One of the singles taken from the album, Paw Prints is a catchy belter that does all it can to get you jumping. This is followed by The Paradise Institute; a somewhat familiar track that nonetheless works to get all manner of excitement flowing. Sun Cream forms another standout track on the album. Beautifully light with floating-yet-forceful guitar lines, the band gives you everything they set out to deliver – optimism, energy and simply uplifting music.

Listening to Mona Lisa Overdrive you arrive at a grand showcase of the echoey voice effects used across the entire record – one of the elements that truly makes this album stand out. With Chewing Gum,on the other hand, its cymbal overload is a bit of a letdown. Still, “A” for effort, plus the rest of the gold on the album more than makes up for the occasional downer.

Once the obstacle of being unable to understand a word these boys sing has subsided, the songs truly astonish, featuring lyrics that are just as worthy as the sounds being produced.

Tango In The Attic have established themselves as one of the most exciting things hailing from Scotland right now and, whether you choose to label them as “garage-pop” or “indie-dance,” the end result is a fast-paced, catchy, lively album. And, if the energy put into these recordings is any indication as to what the live shows will be like then you’re in for a treat.

- Kemptation

Tango in the Attic: Sellotape On paper, Tango in the Attic are far from unique. They are another young, lo-fi rock band writing songs about girls and sex. On the first minute of the album’s opener, “Stitch,” the band seems to recognize the odds they are up against and decide to bust out a crazed, dizzying flurry of guitar that attempts to assert one thing: this isn’t any run-of-the-mill indie record. And it isn’t. There are some inspired compositional elements to these songs, and the songwriting is solid across the board, aside from some repetitive choruses that almost seem like crutches. While there isn’t much to criticize in terms of composition, the songs do blur into each other a bit, making it hard to distinguish true standouts from the rest of the bunch. The opener, “Stitch,” as stated, is a jolting three minutes that makes the comparably gentler follow-up, “Paw Prints,” seems like a bit of a letdown. One of the songs that does distinguish itself from the rest is “Suncream,” a standout that really allows for an emotional connection with vocalist Jordan Craig due to the strong songwriting. (Well, I can’t tell if it’s his emotive voice or infectious thick Scottish accent that makes Craig a more-than-capable vocalist. I’m going to say it’s a bit of both.) The next track, “Mona Lisa Overdrive,” display vintage Strokes influences that are impossible to ignore and would only be intensified if Julian Casablancas had a similarly Scottish accent. The album closes on a high note, with each of the last three songs displaying a different strength of Tango in the Attic. “Chewing Gum” is simple and angry, with some guitar that suits the song perfectly. “Swimming Pool” is a departure from the rest of the album, taking a bit of a darker tone. Its haunting opening sounds straight out of a Salem song. Slowly the darkness recedes a bit and Craig’s voice breaks through with loads of reverb. It’s a bit slower than the rest of the songs, but it fits nicely in the context of the album. The bluntly titled “Family Sucks” closes the album. Parts of it bear a subtle likeness to Wavves’ 2010 album, King of the Beach. It concludes a solid 1-2-3 punch at the back end of the album that leaves you with good vibes as the music fades out. Overall, the joy of this album lies in its consistently strong execution. While you are unlikely to find anything truly unique on the album (and at times the influences can be so pronounced that you get a bit of a cookie-cutter indie rock scent), the songwriting and production are undeniably strong. Tango in the Attic certainly fit comfortably into the crowded indie rock scene, they just might struggle to stand out among the crowd. Rating: 7.6/10 - See more at: http://survivingthegoldenage.com/tango-in-the-attic-sellotape/#sthash.iTwp9ZEv.dpuf - Surviving the Golden Age

So, here I am, writing reviews about music instead of writing my final ever assignments for Uni. But when the music is this good I can't resist.

Tango in the Attic return to our stereos on May 28th with their follow up album Sellotape. So far we've had Swimming Pool & Paw Prints. And now it's the turn of Mona Lisa Overdrive. Fans of the debut album will be pleased to know this is the same Tango in the Attic they fell in love with. With a more mature moulding to their music they still retain the glisten and spark that portrays their attitude fully. Discrete tempo changes and beautiful guitar switch ups truly makes for a fantastically energetic, dreamt out. indie pop masterpiece.

Super looking forward to the album!
- SOS Music

There's not a lot to do in Glenrothes.

A Scottish 'new town' the area isn't renowned for its music scene - which is perhaps what drives Tango In The Attic.

Debut album 'Bank Place Locomotive Society' was crafted in all manner of back rooms, garages and other makeshift rehearsal spaces. Released in 2010, Tango In The Attic worked hard, building their fan base and turning the album into a sleeper hit.

Seemingly massive in Japan, Tango In The Attic's hugely energetic approach to making music underlined what it takes to be young and to make music in a little known regional town.

Taking time off, the four piece re-united last year to draft a follow up. New album 'Sellotape' is a much more direct, raucous return with Tango In The Attic swapping their scratchy, African rhythms for some straight up garage rock influences.

It's not an entire departure - the band's math rock edges are still there, albeit smoothed out a little - but Tango In The Attic seem to be powered by a rare drive.

Lead single 'Pawprints' gave an indication of what to expect. All jagged guitars and surging vocals, Tango In The Attic seemed to be inspired by rock 'n' roll deviants such as Jonathan Fire*Eater.

Now here's 'Mona Lisa Overdrive'. Clocking in at just under three minutes, the track is all rock bravado with a neat breakdown to remind everyone that - at heart - Tango In The Attic haven't really changed.

Listen to it now... Grab it HERE.
- Clash Music

Second Album Syndrome; the words no band hopes to be tarred with, it hangs over like an ominous cloud of musical oppression. Many have faltered at this raw stage, but there are a few who; with slight trepidation, manage to overcome this barrier to success. Glenrothes guys Tango In The Attic are the latest band to clamber their way through the storm and emerge out the other side with Sellotape , a curiously upbeat take on pop music.

'Stitch' is fit to bursting with a mass of guitar ooze that is in places anarchic in its disorder until the four- piece remember that one of them should probably sing something. Enter the delightfully scruffy dulcet tones of vocalist Daniel Craig (insert witty James Bond related joke about tight swimming shorts here), illustrating a blend of sounds that take influence and tone from people like Alex Trimble from Two Door... if he started listening to Nirvana records in his garage.

'Alpaca' replaces the chaotic guitars of the opening track with a rhythmic stomp that fits in place perfectly with the Sahara like desert temperatures we’ve experienced this past week. TITA are turning up the Summer haze to 11 and giving hazy heroes Yuck a run for their money. A majority of the tracks from Sellotape feel like they were made to be enjoyed with a cider in hand at a small-scale local festival while you party your legs off with your closest friends. Apt then, for Tango In The Attic to name a track 'Suncream', but if the thought suddenly popped itself into your head that "what this band needs is an ode to safe skin!" think again.

Natural progression between tracks help make good albums great, and TITA's arrangement of starting upbeat and ending on an altogether more serious note on closer 'Family Sucks' is in no way a forced change. 'Family Sucks' brings to mind tracks such as 'Vomit' by Girls and a little bit of spirit that was floating around from the last Los Campesinos! record, but at no point during this record will it seem as though they have borrowed a little too much from other people.

While the overall sound of Sellotape is nothing ground-breakingly new, it definitely isn't a 'safe' record, and it plays to the strengths that Tango In The Attic have spent their four years together honing into something great.

Rating: 6.5/10 - The 405

There's not much in Glenrothes.

A shopping centre, a pretty big car park and a lot of concrete. A 'New Town' built in the 60s, the area has become better known for producing youthful vandalism and retro indie poppers Sergeant.

Now for Tango In The Attic. A bunch of small town guys eager to escape, their indie pop takes its cue from Vampire Weekend and Foals. Think odd rhythms, offbeat harmonies and you'd be close.

Touring across the UK last year the band began catching people's attention. Retreating to Glenrothes, Tango In The Attic took the brave decision to release their debut album on their own label.

Maintaining control, they neatly avoided the label politics which dogged fellow Glenrothes act Sergeant. Released last week, 'Bank Place Locomotive Society' is a chirpy salute to escapism with an easy to dance to beat.

Always ones to support new talent, ClashMusic have grabbed a preview of the new album. A highlight of 'Bank Place Locomotive Society' new track 'Off To...' is available now as a download for free, nada, nothing.

Listen to it now... Download it HERE. - Clash Music

TITA - who come from Glenrothes - say they are doing music because they are ‘shit at golf’. This is quite a good reason to be in a band when you think about it - although I did wonder if this sort of excuse could be retooled when people ask me what I do at dinner parties. ‘Oh,’ I would drop in casually, ‘You see, the thing is, I’m rubbish at rocket science, so I decided to write about music for pence.’ And - with a neat shrug - the Worst Question In The World would be swatted away - or even better - squashed against the window so a bit of blood came out and its death made you feel strangely guilty. Lucky for we, Tango in the Attic are quite good at their second choice profession, making slightly angular, almost chatty indie which rolls along on cutely raw basslines before exploding into an amiable chorus I have nearly forgiven. Because it does steal its pretty organ stabbings from ‘Oxford Comma’. An enormously polite single, if that does not sound too dread. - Drowned in Sound

"They're young, they're fresh, they get sweaty onstage and they make an ace noise! Tango in the Attic combine Vampire Weekends sing-a-longs with Strokes-style riffing topped-off with a real emotional edge. It's all done with Fife accents and tunes to die for! The more I hear from them, the higher I rate them... 'lo-fi east-coast garage' it may be, but that sounds like a very good thing indeed!" - Vic Galloway, Radio Scotland

- BBC Radio Scotland

By Nick Mitchell

T Break Stage, Sunday, 1.30pm

Every year there is one T Break band who do the pre-show legwork to ensure they're not playing to a wind-whipped, half-empty tent. Judging by the discarded flyers that litter the ground, the makeshift banners held aloft and the fans clad in branded t-shirts, this year that band is Tango in the Attic.

But at least the chirpy Fifers repay the sizeable crowd they have amassed with an energetic performance of their sun-flecked guitar pop grooves. Embellishing the standard garage rock set-up with an antique organ and sax, the smiling quintet belie their band-next-door image with tightly-coiled, sonically distinctive jams.

When they kick into the double-speed, Vampire Weekend-esque beat of 'Blunderground', their branded fans go wild with the kind of enthusiasm that no exhaustive marketing could inspire.





- The Scotsman, Nick Mitchell

My day had been heavy. Ridiculously heavy! At this moment in time, readers, the financial industry –nay, the world! - is in a state of complete meltdown. The way things are going, bread will soon be £53.72 a slice, petrol stations will soon be a place of worship and eventually – as Frankie Boyle so brilliantly predicted – China will rise out of the ground and consume us all. No matter what happens though, Chick Young will always deserve to be snapped in charity football matches. Anyway, unfortunately, all this media vomit, my friends is absolute fodder for every sweatbox up and down the country – most of who seem to have obtained a job in my office. Needless to say, I had had to endure a fair amount of almost intolerable nonsense spouted in my ear for the majority of the day. Mostly, may I add, was to do with the plummeting share price. Every minute, on the minute, I would hear an almighty cry of “Oh that’s it at £1.93” or “It’s now at £1.68. Oh this is really bad, isn’t it?”! To be honest with you, all this was the least of my worries. I was more concerned over the fact that no-one had got the coffees in for some time now. I was positively choking on a 10 strong (that is our coffee machine’s code for milk and one sugar)! Perhaps this was all part of their master plan, I thought to myself; make me snap first so that their jobs will all be safe. Luckily – for the last 30 minutes of the day – I was able to drown out the drone of this drivel by planning the forthcoming evening’s interview with the outstanding five piece from Glenrothes, Tango in the Attic.


As with The Futureheads interview, my colleague and co-pilot in these endeavours Fraser Stephen, aka Flo was also involved. If questions were to be asked, then the faces answering them must be captured on photo – if only to remind me in later life that it was indeed myself that was there and wrote this. Brazilian beer is all good and well for getting the banter flowing. It is also, however, a phenomenal potion for wiping away those precious brain cells that serve well to remind you that the banter even flowed. That aside, I was more than excited to be getting the chance to document such an exciting band – possibly the most enthusiastic and exhilarant band that my beloved Fife has to offer at the moment.

Settling into the ludicrously comfy setting of brothers Jordan (Guitar) and Daniel’s (Vocals) living room, we set-up – well opened our various beverages – and eased straight into a conversation that sounded as if it were emanating from a group that were life long friends. All nerves and apprehensions were instantly dashed and I was more than happy to switch on my Dictaphone there and then to record this down to earth chat. Don’t get me wrong, their music and their ambition and their outlook on life was what I was there to capture. It is without a shadow of a doubt that if I produced a pile of garbled gossip synonymous with Hello or OK magazine, then I would not be much of a writer. In fact, if this was the product of my effort, then I would heartily welcome a stoning or perhaps even invite myself to be thrown to a lion den. Frankly, any Biblical punishment would probably suffice. I suppose what I am trying to say via a lot of tangents and wild gibberish, is that my real aim was really just to ask the questions I wanted to know about what was fast becoming my own, and many others favourite band. If I could put across the salient points as to why Tango in the Attic are drawing praise from anyone and everyone, in my usual jovial and eccentric way, then this Field Officer in Acts of Mayhem would be more than content.

First question that I deemed fitting to pose to them was to establish why Ellipsis – their former name – reformed into Tango in the Attic?

All: We changed the name for a few reasons…Jim – our Bassist had just joined…we had been Ellipsis for a quite a few years, but honestly hadn’t really been a band at all…it was kind of like out growing a high school thing, almost tinkering on the edge of being part time…every now and again we would maybe decide to do a gig or something which isn’t really the way a band should be.


T-Bird: So who came up with the name then?

Daniel: I’ve got to take full credit for that one…I’m sorry, lads, but I do. It was during the first batch of recordings with the Monomen aka Q and Chris. (As a side note, Q is also known for being Fife band “Sergeant’s” sound engineer). We were down finishing the CD to submit to T in the Park regarding our T Break Stage application and the subject of should we also change the name came up…because this is kind of the time to do it. Only thing is you can’t force a name! Anyway, I was flicking through this magazine from America called the Onion and spotted an advertisement for Tango lessons and I was like, Tango is an underused word…Tango is a nice word. We then ensued on possible names such as Tango in the Circus etc. Then as al - The Real State

Despite the apparently never-ending harsh times worldwide, Tango In The Attic actually sound like they’re having a lot of fun. Bright, colourful, and straight to the point, their songs have a charm to them that could very easily be overlooked and overblown by careless labeling, like ‘summer sensation’ – which looks all the more likely given the recent though rather accurate comparisons to bands like Vampire Weekend - or other wretched pedestals. However, those who instead take these songs for what they are – instant hits of spiky melodic energy - may be pleasantly surprised by their accessibility and youthful exuberance.

Having made the shortlist for this year’s T-break competition, the five-piece from Glenrothes are set to play next month’s T In The Park, and are gearing up for a split release with fellow finalists Be A Familiar. To get you started though, here’s the band’s guitarist Jordan Craig with a few words.

How did you meet and form the band?
Most of us grew up together and we met James our bass player at Uni. We’d all played in various bands before but were desperate to start something we could take seriously, but have a lot of fun with at the same time. This probably stemmed from our dislike of the academic lifestyle.

Is there any significant reason behind the name?
It came from an old Beatles flyer in the studio we recorded our first material in. It was based on some kind of circus thing, I’m not sure if the word Tango was even on it – but it evolved to that anyway. We had something like ‘Tango in the Circus’ then Daniel looked up, saw the studio attic and - hey presto. It carries a fair whack of significance because that recording session is where we really found our sound and decided a lot about how we would present ourselves to people. It’s the session we recorded ‘Jackanory’ in. The name is inextricably tied to that session.

Do you all have similar tastes? What would consider to be your biggest musical influences or inspirations?
We all like a lot of the same music, but we also all have extremely differing tastes. For instance I’m mad keen on The Walkmen, James is Paul Simon out his nut, Joe who plays organ is into folky music, Paul learned to play drums from punk records and Daniel our vocalist is into a random bunch of stuff from Ryan Adams to Death Cab For Cutie. We all have pretty wide-spread tastes though, liking things from Radiohead to The Strokes to electronica to jazz. When we’re writing music we all push to get our different tastes into the song, which can make writing a song very difficult sometimes!

In general we try to keep things quite upbeat and straightforward – we’ll leave the crazy stuff for the fourth album.

Where's your favourite place to play?
Bathgate. They’ve got an amazing group of music-lovers over there who like to go nuts at a show and who travel everywhere to support bands. The gigs are always mental and really fun to play. Gotta love playing at home too at The Greenside. Love the sound of that place and had many a classic night there.

If you could, how would you describe your music?
Well, we describe our sound as east-coast lo-fi garage… what that means is we’re strongly influenced by ‘east-coast’ bands like The Velvet Underground, The Strokes, The Walkmen etc hence we tie this into our residence on the east coast of Scotland – where there is actually a distinction from, say, the west coast. The sound of bands from over here tends to be a little grittier.

I’d say our sound is fairly Lo-Fi, when we’re recording we don’t wanna go for this clean, polished sound. We like to keep it fairly raw and live-sounding. And yeah I’d go with garage, in keeping with some of our most influential bands growing up such as The Vines, The Stokes, The White Stripes. They were all part of the garage revival.

Do you have plans for any releases in the pipeline?
We’re releasing ‘Blunderground’ on July 20th. It’s a split single with our friends Be A Familiar who are releasing a track called ‘You’d Make A Great Ghost’. We’ll be playing live on Vic Galloway’s Radio One show to promote it.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?
We’re playing T In The Park and hoping to get more festivals confirmed. Plenty of gigs all summer with the Blunderground single release in July. We’re looking to get an EP recorded for towards the end of the summer with four or five tracks. From there we’ll look to get some high-profile support slots while trying to attract industry attention. We’ve already had quite a few enquiries from a few small record labels, management companies, promo companies etc but for now we’ve been happy doing things ourselves. I suppose we’ll just keep on trying to climb the ladder and won’t stop ‘til we’re recording an album in the south of France, with everyone running around after us while we hit a round of 18 to unwind.
- The List

It's one of those amateurish, college newspaper expressions that instantly causes eyeballs to roll upwards: 'They don't take themselves too seriously'. And while this normally translates in the mind of the reader as 'they don't take themselves too seriously because their music is semi-listenable pap and they're going nowhere fast', it doesn't apply in all cases.

Take Tango in the Attic (TitA] for example. From the paint-splattered picture portrait (see above) to the daytime TV influenced name (a blend of 'Tango and Cash' and 'Cash in the Attic', if the rumour is to be believed), this Fife five-piece employ a giddy, ramshackle attitude that even extends to their musical hardware.

"We like to mix up the instrumentation a lot," says guitarist Jordan Craig. "Guitars, saxophones, trumpets, electric organs, synths, a weird and wonderful collection of percussion, including a hybrid instrument named 'SHELBY' which comprises a traffic cone, a road bollard we knocked over when we crashed our van, and a cowbell which we stuck to the top of it for good measure! We use all this but try to stick to writing straightforward pop songs. We try not to make our music too alienating or self-involved, and we try to keep it upbeat."

Such prankish behaviour usually equates to immature sounds, but the difference here is that this band's music is worth listening to. Together for a little over a year, TitA have managed to forge a tight, bright indie-pop sound that seems a world away from Scotland's current reputation for introspective, skull-rattling post-rock. Our featured track, 'Jackanory', is an instant rush of coiled pop energy, with singer Daniel Craig (no, not that one) veering from off-beat cynicism to impassioned chanting, over a backing track that sounds like Vampire Weekend without the string section.

And Vampire Weekend aren't the only Manhattan-dwelling music-makers to play a part in TitA's kaleidoscopic pop vision. "We seem to like a lot of bands from New York like The Strokes, The Walkmen, The Velvet Underground etc," says Jordan. "But then loads of other random stuff like Bombay Bicycle Club, Paul Simon, Radiohead and The Pogues."

But TitA hail from Glenrothes in Fife, a post-war new town of roundabouts and giant daffodil sculptures that is thousands of miles from the Big Apple, both in distance and vitality. Or is there a thriving music scene across the Forth Bridge that's still undersold in the national media?

"Fife has a strong music background and a good reputation for live music," Jordan argues. "Because of the state of things just now, everyone's a bit strapped for cash and local crowd attendances have dropped a tad, but there's always people up for it - folk around here have that kind of mentality. You have to appreciate the effort people are still making to support local music. Dunfermline and Glenrothes are constantly producing bands of a very high standard which is always exciting and encouraging."

TitA are still enmeshed in the scene from which they've sprung: they practice in the basement of a vintage clothes shop in Kirkcaldy, they drive their die-hard fans to gigs in an old mini-bus called the 'Tango Tank', and they try to keep the price of tickets as low as possible. But do they think this grassroots approach will pay dividends in the long run?

"It's not that cool to say it, but we work really hard at this, despite being a pretty light-hearted bunch," Jordan replies. "We know when to get the business heads on, but we know when to have a laugh as well I guess. We never make compromises when writing our songs or preparing for gigs. The 'luck' factor always plays a big part in a band's success, but we're very confident in our music and ourselves. Hopefully this gets us into a career where we can make album after album 'til we've got massive grey beards."

They may not take themselves too seriously, but we predict a hirsute future for Tango in the Attic. - On The Radar (The Scotsman)

Second single ‘Blunderground’ from Glenrothes act Tango in the Attic is a quirky masterpiece, a gruesome tale of life as a band. Although it’s a short life, Tango in The Attic have encountered near death and dingy circumstances; making for great lyrical content! Tango in the Attic, however, have pulled through with a smile, making for a successful single and a worthy sing-a-long anthem’ (4/5) – Susan Ford - music-news.com - Susan Ford

The wonderful 5 piece Tango In The Attic from Glenrothes in Fife formed in late 2007 bringing with them a colourful and funky sound to the growing Fife music scene. Influenced by bands such as New York boys Vampire Weekend, their sound can be described as a Scottish version of East Coast Lo-Fi Garage. Using a large selection of instruments they always have an engaging & enthusiastic live performance.
They have been featured on BBC radio and even had their music sampled in an advert on MTV on channel 4.
Their latest single release “Jackanory” is sure to put you in a cheery mood with their fife accents and its Vampire Weekend sing-along style and fresh instrumentals. The single is now available to download on iTunes.

A highly recommended purchase. 10/10 - Indie Overview

We arrive in time to catch most of Tango In The Attic’s set. They seem to have brought along a good crowd. Based in Glenrothes, the five-piece seem to have spent some time tangoing in the attic / basement / garage to the sounds of Vampire Weekend, Talking Heads, 60s garage punk and all points in-between. At times they sounded a little too close to their influences but at other points, they showed that they have some pretty decent songs.

The performance was energetic and enthusiastic including the use of odd percussion, and verged on the manic in its intensity prompting us to wonder how the singer could survive on the stage in a leather jacket. Given time, Tango In The Attic could develop into something quite special. As it stands, they were good fun with some enjoyable songs.


- Andy Wood
- Is This Music?

Tango In The Attic are playing the Tbreak Stage, Sunday at1.40pm. Get your Sunday started with these lads who are causing quite a storm on the music scene, after being featured on ads, MTV and CH4. Quite a CV then Tangoers?!...

Hello! We are Tango In The Attic from Glenrothes in Fife. We picked up some instruments and started bashing them about in a small room around a year and a half ago… We continued to do this in other rooms as well as on stages in front of people who so far have seemed to like it. All this bashing has landed us a slot at this year’s T In The Park on the Tbreak stage – nice one! As well as that we’ve released our first single, Jackanory, which was used as the music for Schuh’s first ever TV advert, aired on channel 4, e4, MTV plus a few more. We’ve gigged up and down the UK and have been constantly writing and recording new material. With our next single coming out on July 20th (a split with friends BE A FAMILIAR) and a live session on Radio One with Vic Galloway at the end of July it’s looking like a busy summer!

We can’t wait to play TITP this weekend! It’s honestly been like looking forward to Christmas when you’re a kid. We normally go every year with tons of friends, so to be playing this year is kinda surreal. We’ve packed our wellies and sleeping bags and are heading out onto the boggy fields of Balado to camp for the weekend as well – just need to stay in a fit state ‘til Sunday afternoon… ?

We’ve been practicing like crazy since we found out we’re playing – we’re planning to put on an amazing show that will sound huge and look electric. We’re pulling out all the stops for this one… we’re gonna dress the stage up with lamps, lights and whatever else we can find; and bring out as much random percussion as we can! Rehearsals have been fun… the usual routine is: play the set through, argue for 20 minutes about what tent to take, play the set through again, argue about the cheapest way to buy vodka from ASDA, play the set through etc etc…

We’ve got thousands of flyers made up to dish out while we’re in the park, as well as T-Shirts and badges. And on Thursday I think we’re gonna try our hand at making some TITA flags – of course we’ll need to find some local pirates first to ask them for tips. Amidst the onslaught of promo work we’re hoping to catch quite a few bands, especially Blur and Mogwai… though I think they maybe clash ?

All in all it’s shaping up to be a brilliant weekend. Look out for us when you’re there – we’ll be running about with T-Shirts, flyers, badges, sweets and possibly some pirates. And make sure you catch our set on the Tbreak stage on Sunday @ 1.40pm!! xx
- STV (Scottish Television)

There's not much in Glenrothes.
A shopping centre, a pretty big car park and a lot of concrete. A 'New Town' built in the 60s, the area has become better known for producing youthful vandalism and retro indie poppers Sergeant.
Now for Tango In The Attic. A bunch of small town guys eager to escape, their indie pop takes its cue from Vampire Weekend and Foals. Think odd rhythms, offbeat harmonies and you'd be close.
Touring across the UK last year the band began catching people's attention. Retreating to Glenrothes, Tango In The Attic took the brave decision to release their debut album on their own label.
Maintaining control, they neatly avoided the label politics which dogged fellow Glenrothes act Sergeant. Released last week, 'Bank Place Locomotive Society' is a chirpy salute to escapism with an easy to dance to beat.
Always ones to support new talent, ClashMusic have grabbed a preview of the new album. A highlight of 'Bank Place Locomotive Society' new track 'Off To...' is available now as a download for free, nada, nothing.
- Clash

GOOD LISTENER

Our five favorite songs of the week!

Tango in the Attic “Off To”
You’ll be jiving in the basement, doing swing in the hallway, and perhaps even belly dancing in the living room to this succinct little gem from this five-piece from Glenrothes, Scotland. An uptempo, urgent little band who make melodies reminiscent of the happier moments of Vampire Weekend and favor bridges which literally sound as though they’re being played on a set of frying pans (a good thing, people, a good thing), Tango in the Attic make impossibly catchy garage pop that is, unfortunately, not available in the U.S. just yet. So do as we did the other day and download their debut album, Seven Second Stare, from the U.K. iTunes store and don’t stop dancing for the rest of the summer.
myspace.com/tangointheattic
--LUKE CRISELL - Nylon

When fresh-faced newcomers identify Paul Simon as a chief songwriting inspiration, cynics might well read between the lines and translate the citation to ‘Vampire Weekend’. For Tango in the Attic, Simon’s influence definitely feels filtered Chinese-whispers-style through the preppy New Yorkers’ recent successes, thinned to jaunty keyboards and the subtlest of afrobeat rhythms.

But this dilution is ultimately to the band’s advantage – let the comparison lie and other textures reveal themselves. For example, accents and a track entitled Whiskey In The Wind are only part of their debut’s Scottish connection, with shades of Frightened Rabbit’s emotional peaks in several choruses. Yet the VW-echoes prove resilient.

This scribe hasn’t been to Glenrothes in some years, but either the dreakit Fife town of memory has benefited from significant, localised climate change or Tango in the Attic are simply very good at injecting sunshine into their melodies. Online weather reports confirm the latter. [Chris Buckle]

4/5 - The Skinny

Cindy Suzuki reckons Tango In The Attic's 'Bank Place Locomotive Society' proves they deserve a shot at the top...

Tango In The Attic
Bank Place Locomotive Society
(Believe)

Tango in the Attic must be sick to the bones of hearing themselves dubbed Òthe Scottish Vampire WeekendÓ by now. Sure it’s a handy sound byte – but there’s a whole lot more going on here than Paul Simon guitars and Afro-beats.
For example, ‘Seven Second Stare’ has the pop balls to see them competing with Two Door Cinema Club for the ‘hottest new indie band around’ award, while ‘Sketch By Quentin Blake’ shows an articulacy behind the band’s more obvious jump-on-the-bed enthusiasm.
Songs like ‘Jackanory’ typify the record perfectly: it’s the kind of song we should be hearing on the radio when we get up in the morning, to jump start the day.
It’s entirely possible that Tango in the Attic don’t have much of a budget behind them, and it’s entirely possible that someone, somewhere who’s reading this does. See what I’m getting at here? If you recently inherited a fortune, give these guys a call – together you could be supermassive.

4/5 - Artrocker

July 12, 2010

Written by Euan Wallace

Label: Believe
Release date: 12/07/10
Link: Myspace
Buy/MP3: Amazon l Off To...

Not many people apart from Mick Fleetwood know this, but you can succeed in the music industry if, and only if (not only) you name your band after a Fleetwood Mac album. Fleetwood Mac did this twice and it worked wonders for them. It also helps if the band is named after a quite good Mac album, which is why there’s so few bands going around called ‘Behind The Mask’ and whatnot.

Of course all this would wither into insignificance if the band didn’t also have some good tunes, so fortunately for Scotland’s Tango In The Attic they pass both these rigorous tests of musical greatness. Certificate in the post, or not, that’s a lie.

This album is a strong showing from a band who understand what makes good pop music as if they had spent every waking minute til this point studying that science. The opening array of songs are quickly realised as just fantastic pop music that should be met with the usual joy experienced when you’ve stumbled upon a really quite good album.

‘Off To...’ and ‘A Healthy Distraction’ perhaps demonstrate the band at their best and if an alien landed tomorrow and it was down to you to educate them on the ways of planet Earth, after several weeks, when it was time to teach them about Tango In The Attic, those would be the songs to play first.

They sound somewhat similar in style to near-neighbours The View, both bands sharing a fondness for raucous guitar pop with memorable choruses. Though there’s also hints of a less polished Vampire Weekend or The Drums about Tango’s bright sound.

They tangle with old-fashioned concepts like Jackanory and Quentin Blake which is enough to cause eyebrows to raise slightly in curiosity but lyrically there’s not really much that won’t sound familiar to most of us. But when that is coupled with such often brilliant and catchy music it is really difficult to care too much about that.

The album falters slightly after the opening few songs, seeming to lose some of the impressive momentum of the first five tracks but it never loses it’s footing completely, always managing to place somewhere between ‘quite good’ and ‘very good’. Which is about all you could really want from a debut album. - The 405

Mention the name Glenrothes and its highly unlikely many people outside the Fife town will would bat an eyelid. More renowned as being part of "Silicon Glen", the term used to describe Scotland's booming electronics industry of the previous two decades, its only other claim to fame being a "Best Kept Large Town" award in 2009's Britain In Bloom competition.

All that could be about to change if sprightly five-piece Tango In The Attic have any say in the matter. While early comparisons to the likes of Paul Simon, Vampire Weekend and The Velvet Underground may be a little audacious, they're not that wide of the mark either, particularly in the case of the former pair. Last year's 'Seven Second Stare' 45 already created something of a stir, and along with fellow dance-infused post punkers Jack Butler there's more than a slight justification in such praise.

Having formed two years ago from the ashes of local underachievers Ellipsis, Tango In The Attic have made rapid steps in such a short space of time, culminating in a deal with London-based indie A Badge Of Friendship, their first long player, 'Bank Place Locomotive Society' following suit almost immediately.

While there's no doubting the band's love of classic songwriters such as the aforementioned Simon, its also worth noting that they've been paying a fair bit of attention to the Postcard back catalogue, not too dissimilar in many ways to current media darlings The Drums.

Opener 'One Step Away' places the Orange Juice jangle in Abe Vigoda's jungle without the ensuing chaos associated with the latter's afrobeat punk, while the blistering guitars of 'Leftside' suggest a more incisive, mature sound is currently under development, as does the reflective 'One Step Ahead'.

Elsewhere, 'Bank Place Locomotive Society' treads the indie/dance crossover party quite admirably, as 'Off To.' and 'A Healthy Distraction' both straddle similar waters to Golden Silvers or Everything Everything, along with the poppier likes of former single 'Seven Second Stare' or summery strains of the penultimate 'She Stole The Summer'.

At times, 'Bank Place Locomotive Society' does fall a bit flat; both 'Whiskey In The Wind' and 'Blunderground' are quite by-numbers and forgettable, while the six minutes long closing statement of 'The Letting Go' feels unnecessarily overcooked and drawn out.

On the whole though, this is a promising debut that while not quite living up to the superlative heights of their peers and contemporaries, should at least ensure Tango In The Attic outlast the initial wave of hype that surrounds them.

7/10

Dom Gourlay - Contact Music

he debut album from the Scottish boys Tango In The Attic is very much so a summer album, in pressing play from the first second straight through to the last I couldn’t help myself indulging in a little smile. With the 1 minute 21 second opener on Bank Place Locomotive Society named “One Step Away” carrying a catchy afrobeat vibe that sets the tone for the happy summer vibe in the album.
Tango In The Attic are not to be pigeonholed as your average indie band, with several genres appearing in Bank Place Locomotive Society, ranging from electro pop to some reggae vibes. The boys show a versatility to there song writing and music that can only stand them in good-stead for the future and going by the debut album there are plenty signs to show that Tango In The Attic will be injecting our life’s with stunning songs for while yet.
For me the crowning jewel in Bank Place Locomotive Society is the track “Leftside“. It kicks of with a tremendous laid back opening riff that continues throughout the song, the song has an anthemic quality that is guaranteed to get any crowed interested in having the slightest dance, along with this Daniel Craig’s vocals show a kind of regretful tone that adds a personal touch that complements the music superbly.
With everyone on the lookout for there summer 2010 album, Bank Place Locomotive Society by Tango In The Attic for me definitely surpasses the rest of the contenders for this years summer 2010 album. I’m sure I wont be the only one turning to Tango In The Attic for my summer soundtrack.
Artist: Tango in the Attic
Album Title: Bank Place Locomotive Society
Tracks:
1. One Step Away
2. Seven Second Staire
3. Off To…
4. Sketch by Quentin Blake
5. A Healthy Distraction
6. One Step Ahead
7. Jackanory
8. Leftside
9. Whiskey in the Wind
10. Blunderground
11. She Stole The Summer
12. The Letting Go
Release Date: 12th July 2010
Label: Believe
Format: CD / Download
Website: http://www.myspace.com/tangointheattic - The Giantess

Tango In The Attic are a band that make me sigh with happiness. They are summer encapsulated and their debut album ‘Bank Place Locomotive Society’ is this wonderful season amplified.
Tango In The Attic do well in creating an album that combines electro, uplifting pop and sweet like nectar melodies. Tracks like ‘Sketch By Quentin Blake’ transpose from reggae movements and propel into pop-tastic urgency that is sugar coated with cloud nine vocals of solace.
‘Leftside’ is a glittering song that constructs itself as a luminous representation for this album. Daniel Craig’s vocals are so earnest that you want to somehow comfort yet encourage him. There is the most beautiful bridge in the song about two third’s through, it is mainly found in dance anthems that are building up to create that unbearable tension that you just want to explode to. This song does well in replicating that tension and you know when you eventually hear this live in a sweaty pit of fans, you will be bouncing with happiness.
I have to also champion the short but incredibly precious ‘One Step Ahead’. It is almost a breather halfway through the album, but does well to provide a refreshment to refuel the senses. Erratic electronic beats and Craig’s almost feminine type whisperings layered over the top make this song blossom.
People sometimes have an album to represent different seasons. I am certainly one of these as it brings back the feelings and almost intoxicating smells of those time frames. ‘Bank Place Locomotive Society’ will definitely be an album that reminds me of Summer 2010. It has a rigor of creativeness and its quirkiness is wonderfully baffling at times. I cannot recommend this album highly enough.
Halina Rifai
‘Bank Place Locomotive Society’ is out July 12th on CD/Download. For more information please visit: Myspace - Glasgow PodcART

Scottish popsters Tango in the Attic have a pretty whimsical name and make music with a similar sunny disregard for taking it too seriously. Their debut album Bank Place Locomotive Society arrives on the doorstep of a particularly promising summer; can it successfully soundtrack the season?

Well, within the first minute of opening tune ‘One Step Away’ I was already struggling to decide which of the many hooks took precedence in my head. This is a band who are not afraid by any means to bombard you with catchy vocal melodies, bouncing bass and reverb laden, jangly guitar riffs not dissimilar to Moshi Moshi stalwarts Hot Club de Paris, or The Drums covering Blink-182.

To clarify, this is not high-concept pop, and I mean that in the best possible way. The songs never have more embellishments than they need; the hooks and grooves have plenty of room to breathe in terms of instrumentation, even if for the most part the pace is so lively that they don’t exactly give you time to contemplate them. Within ten minutes you will have heard four songs, and these four are uniformly great examples of short-and-sweet pop nuggets.

Fifth track ‘A Healthy Distraction’ has a slightly more extended running time but still shies away from any filler whatsoever. Still, it doesn’t quite possess the spark that the opening quartet of tunes do; it’s hard to discern exactly what feels missing, but it’s a small misstep and then only in comparison to what has come before.

Indeed, whilst the middle third of songs on the album aren’t as instantly recognizable as keepers, the final third comes tantalizingly close to regaining the unabashed joy that introduces this debut. Relatively speaking, ‘Whiskey In The Wind‘ is a little less breakneck but due to the interlocking rhythms and the gorgeously measured chorus is easily one of the strongest tracks.

Pay close attention to the lyrics too: ‘The night is ripe/for drinking whiskey in the wind’ might not be wildly profound but it’s still more evocative than the usual lyrical fare of bands in a similar genre. Also, call it positive racial discrimination if you will but I can’t help but feel that that line in particular, as well as plenty of others on this record, just wouldn’t be the same without vocalist Daniel Craig’s Glenrothes inflections.

Ultimately this is a rewarding, confident debut marred only by slight repetition. More upbeat than Scottish compatriots We Were Promised Jetpacks and less mathy than Trapped In Kansas, Tango In The Attic are nevertheless another fantastic addition to the incredible Scottish scene right now, and definitely have a plenty broad appeal. Get your dancing shoes on for sure. - The Line Of Best Fit

What with it being summer it seems only right that there should be at least one album with sunshine beaming out of its very being. Bank Place Locomotive Society has a fair bit of hazy summer magic running through its dance inflected indie tunes, but too much of anything can sometimes get tedious. Too much time in the company of this band of Scottish songsmiths might have you wishing for arctic conditions and the opportunity to wear those cool jackets that have been retired for the season.

Yet it all starts so promisingly with a stream of undeniably catchy pop songs. The collision of afrobeat, calypso and indie of One Step Away opens the album with a musical grin that could only improved with careful application of rum-based cocktails and a special herbal doofer. The guitar tones are warm and chiming whilst vocalist Daniel Craig (no not that one) channels The Beach Boys and Fleet Foxes. It's a shame that it only lasts about a minute and a half, because it is charmingly disarming.

Seven Second Stare's taut basslines drive a minimal scattering of wiry guitars, baby cute keyboards and Craig's hankering for a holiday towards a classy pop payoff. It's the kind of thing Ballboy might have come up with had they been on a field trip to Barbados and eaten nothing but Cabana bars soaked in Barcadi.

The riffing of early Foals is called to mind with he precision scampering guitars of Off To... and with Craig's straight talking lyrics and simple melodies Tango In The Attic waste little time in worming their way into the pleasure centres. This opening salvo suggests that they can tread the line between danceable and quietly anthemic with a nimble grace, but occasionally they lack focus.

For example, A Healthy Distraction narrowly succeeds thanks to the mildly distracting nature of its chorus - it is otherwise an exercise in treading water. Despite that chorus and an attempt to evoke a carnival atmosphere with a rumbling drum interlude there's little else of note. Blunderground stabs at a memorable melody but eventually it wanders off into a blind alley and dies of boredom. Its buttoned down bassline and guitars loaded with a hazy feel-good tone kick things off nicely but somewhere along the line it meanders off lost and confused.

The Letting Go suffers a similar fate. The initial jaunty electro-skank skip clicks its heels before running into trouble at the midpoint, sinking into a quicksand dirge clearly marked with an enormous sign reading " Beware! Unnecessary Over Indulgence Ahead".

Minor grumbles aside, there's still plenty of good stuff to be found here. The Jam meets Nintendo hop through Jackanory is as wide-eyed as the title might have you believe whilst the reflective mood of Leftside meanwhile adds some welcome contemplation to proceedings. Craig's vocals take on a dour tone, while the guitars slow to a more steady pace concentrating as much on atmosphere as possible suggesting an alternative to the sunny disposition displayed elsewhere.

Bank Place Locomotive Society is a good introduction to a band that obviously has plenty of potential. Despite a few duds, there are plenty here to get people dancing in the street, let along tangoing in the attic. - musicOMH