Music Under Fire

If there's one band I could tell you that you absolutely need to keep your eye on right now, its The Answering Machine. The band from Manchester, UK is comprised of Martin (lead vocals/guitar), Patrick (lead guitar), Gemma (bass) and Ben (drums). They pride themselves on poppy UK rock with influences from The Strokes ,The Radio Dept., Shout Out Louds, The Brilliant Corners, and The Streets. And best yet, nobody knows about them... yet.

Previously a three-piece band, the group's focal point was once a laughable drummer, a drumkit named 'Mustafa Beat'. Mustafa was "by far the most popular member of our band." As told in an interview by Manchester News, "We've had quite a few offers from real, human drummers to play with us. We always turn them down. No one can replace Mustafa." To push things even further, 'Mustafa Beat' has its own myspace page, which the band seems to divert all of the attention from themselves to their trusty drum machine. Shall we call this humility?

That's what these guys are at the moment anyway. Modest. With very little material out, the band released their last single "Lightbulbs" (video below) back in late 2007. Their single before that was "Silent Hotels" released last May. But although their only substantial release is the two-song "Lightbulbs EP", which was released on November 5th by Regal Recordings, the band is showing much promise for more great pop rock to come. Oh, and "Lightbulbs" has also been remixed by James Yuill.

MP3: The Answering Machine - Lightbulbs (James Yuill Remix)

To listen to more of The Answering Machine's songs, go to their MySpace page.

Says the band about signing to a big record company:

"We won't need it! Our first single is just the demo recording we did in Pat's bedroom in Withington. People have told us, `Oh, you should get a big producer in and make your recordings more polished', but we'd hate that. We'd love to make a whole album in Pat's bedroom if possible. The record company can just pay for a few beers." (Manchester News)