Dawn Of The Replicants

Named the "best new band of 1997" by the London Times, Dawn of the Replicants has quickly grown into one of the most inventive groups in the United Kingdom. Impossible to categorize, their music is, according to founders Paul Vickers and Roger Simian, a mix of "swamp rock, pop, glam rock, electro-, girlie jazz, doo wop, nasty ass blues, hip-hop, redneck, and experimentalism." Initially a duo, Dawn of the Replicants has expanded into a quintet with the addition of bassist Donald Kyle, guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Michael Sorenson Small and drummer/guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Grant Pringle. All have contributed original songs to the band's repertoire. While all five musicians previously worked together on the short-lived Scottish music magazine Sun Zoom Spark, their experiences had criss-crossed each other's for years. Pringle, Small, and Simian had played together in a trio, Crunchy Joseph, while Pringle and Kyle had played together in Da Hsing and Placenta Party. Small and Vickers had been members of Pennies from Heaven and Snoopy on Sax.

Northern England-born Vickers and Simian met while working for Sun Zoom Spark, shortly after Vickers had dropped out of college and moved to the borderlands of Scotland. Releasing 500 vinyl copies of their debut EP, So Far so Spitfire, the album quickly attracted attention. Melody Maker named it "single of the week." Signed by Eastwest, Dawn of the Replicants released its debut album, One Head, Two Arms, Two legs in 1998. After releasing their second effort, Wrong Town, Wrong Planet, Three Hours Late, in 1999, the group took a brief hiatus. Simian and Vickers continued to play together as Pluto Monkey, showing their expertise on Yamaha samplers and theremins instead of guitars. The offshoot band released an album, Little Brenda: Bluegrass Mission and two singles. Dawn of the Replicants' third album, Touching the Propeller, was released in 2002 on the Flying Sparks label.