by Heather Phares
Brisbane, Australias Violent Soho revives the fuzzed-out rock of the early 90s, borrowing Weezers crunchy guitars and Nirvanas distortion-coated hooks. Featuring guitarists/vocalists Luke Boerdam and James Tidswell, bassist Luke Henery, and drummer Michael Richards, the band formed in 2004, when the foursome were going to school together. After playing local shows for a while, they released their first EP, Pigs & TV, in 2006; the praise it drew allowed the band to tour Sydney and Melbourne. Violent Sohos debut album We Dont Belong Here arrived in 2008, the same year they played the St. Jeromes Laneway Festival. The album received airplay on the bands hometown station 4ZZZ as well as the nationwide Triple J. It also reached the ears of Sonic Youths Thurston Moore, who signed Violent Soho to his Ecstatic Peace label in 2009. The band reworked some tracks from We Dont Belong Here and added some new songs, resulting in their second album and U.S. debut, Violent Soho, which arrived in early 2009.
Brisbane, Australias Violent Soho revives the fuzzed-out rock of the early 90s, borrowing Weezers crunchy guitars and Nirvanas distortion-coated hooks. Featuring guitarists/vocalists Luke Boerdam and James Tidswell, bassist Luke Henery, and drummer Michael Richards, the band formed in 2004, when the foursome were going to school together. After playing local shows for a while, they released their first EP, Pigs & TV, in 2006; the praise it drew allowed the band to tour Sydney and Melbourne. Violent Sohos debut album We Dont Belong Here arrived in 2008, the same year they played the St. Jeromes Laneway Festival. The album received airplay on the bands hometown station 4ZZZ as well as the nationwide Triple J. It also reached the ears of Sonic Youths Thurston Moore, who signed Violent Soho to his Ecstatic Peace label in 2009. The band reworked some tracks from We Dont Belong Here and added some new songs, resulting in their second album and U.S. debut, Violent Soho, which arrived in early 2009.
