A lot of Preston's student population are drinking themselves into Oblivion as part of the mammoth pub crawl known as Carnage. As you can imagine it's a little quiet at the promo night at 53 Degrees.

Shit Disco have groovy bass lines than can make your hair curl in an instance. These facial hair students have a duoplicity of singers and bass players, spiky guitars, thundering drums and a healthy dose of experimentation. Shit Disco are a band you can get really excited about. There's a punk DIY attitude to this four piece with the bass player playing his instrument with his teeth (think Hendrix gone large) with a song about sweets called "Lion Bar" a nifty line in wacky humour.

The first time Designer Magazine saw the Longcut was as support to Graham Coxon when the band were selected by 6 Music's Steve Lamacq to open the show. That was back on May 20th 2004 and nearly two years later the Longcut's debut album "Call And Response" is almost here, give or take a month. I survey my surroundings and notice that a few of the Carnage crowd have staggered in, some with snorkels, water wings and crazy caps. I'm only guessing, but I don't think this is the type of audience The Longcut were aiming for with intense, serious muso rock. A few of the more dedicated fans are at the front, one of whom have seen this Manchester trio a staggering eleven times. My word, he's keen.

A tight unit with the well publicized Joy Division influence still embedded in their sound, but echoes of the much missed Six By Seven are quite evident and the strobes are a visual display of the bands inner turmoil. The frantic furious playing of the guitar could almost be the Wedding Present while the instrumental flourishes owe a debt to Mogwai. The Longcut play for  a solid
forty minutes and although obviously they're not showman (singing drummerboy aside) or the most loquacious of bands these moody minstrels are seriously excellent musicians who put a lot of time and effort into their craft and deserve all the plaudits, attention and success which will undoubtedly come their way very soon.

Nicholas Paul Godkin