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A Great Band from the Highlands who all at once seem to be baggy, Britpop and Ben Folds Five wrapped up in pop melodies. There's sometimes even Acid House piano and Bon Jovi synths thrown in for good measure. They remind me of Irish band The Frank and Walters who could throw everything but the kitchen sink into a song with dazzling results. Forever Changing kicks off like a Britpop anthem with lyrics: "You are a victim of fashion/but I don't see what's the attraction/the songs you sing are overrated/there ain't no shame in being dated". It's a clever, uplifting tune which around the three minute mark breaks down into dance and even blues. Second tune Round Here is abit Toploader for me but the band led by singer and guitarist Hugh Winton swing up again with piano-led thump of The Circle which featured on the great Fat Hippy Records compilation.
The band play The Box, Glasgow on November 1 and Capitol, Glasgow on December 1.
www.myspace.com/theside05
- DAILY RECORD
Discography
The Side EP (2005)
Sunrise EP (2006)
Forever Changing EP (2007)
Top of the World EP (2008)
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Bio
Based up in Ross-Shire, Scotland they have solidly established themselves as one of the top bands in the highlands with their indie mixture of rock, pop and funk.
Influences for the band include The Beatles, Ocean Colour Scene, Ben Folds Five, Stone Roses, Muse....
The Side have played with artists from across the UK such as the likes of Tim Burgess (The Charlatans), From The Jam (2 of the original 3 members of The Jam line-up), The Bootleg Beatles, The Complete Stone Roses, Tiny Dancers, John Power, The Bluetones and Inspiral Carpets frontman Tom Hingley, whilst keeping busy with regular jam packed gigs around Scotland.
In 2005 The Side released their debut ep, soon after they received the news that judges from NME, Radio 1 and LEE had selected the band for the Lee Sounds Unsigned Showcase Tour in association with NME. The band played the Glasgow leg of the tour which was filmed and along with 1 of their recorded songs, features on the Lee Sounds Unsigned DVD.
In 2006 The Side showed no signs of slowing down with showcase gigs at the goNorth Festival in Aberdeen and goHi in Inverness, an appearance at the BBC Seedlings stage at the Belladrum Festival, self released their second e.p, featured on Fat Hippy Records (Aberdeen) " The Sampler" compilation Album and gigged across Scotland from Gairloch to Glasgow.
Last year seen the band complete their first Scottish tour, appear at industry showcase goNorth and also feature on Music Week's accompanying goNorth compilation CD, self release their 3rd EP, perform at the Rockness Festival and only just recently, return from playing music showcase goMoscow in Russia.
This year has seen the band release their 4th ep, win a finalist place in the UK Songwriting Contest with their song Forever Changing, play at the Loopallu Festival in Ullapool, receive Radio 2 airplay and also be invited down to do a live session on Janice Long's Radio 2 show.
The Side are currently recording their debut album, which will be released next summer.
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