ARTIST: Five O'Clock Heroes
TITLE: Bend To The Breaks
LABEL: Glaze
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 189kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 40min total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-09-11
RIP DATE: 2006-08-18

Track List

01. Head Games                      2:40
02. Anybody Home                    3:17
03. Time On My Hands                3:03
04. Run To Her                      3:25
05. Number Again                    3:23
06. Good Lovers                     3:40
07. Skin Deep                       2:50
08. Corporate Boys                  3:55
09. Stay The Night                  2:41
10. White Girls                     3:01
11. In Control                      2:35
12. Give It Up                      5:47

Release Notes:

We know what you’re thinking. Just who are these mysterious Five O’ Clock
Heroes, whose album you currently hold in your eager little hands?

Well, there’s a long and a short answer to that question. The short answer is
that they’re the Anglo-American quartet whose take on the late-70’s jerk-pop
mastery of the likes of Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello has been causing a quiet
stir on both sides of the Atlantic, and who are on the verge of releasing their
long-gestating debut album, ‘Bend To The Breaks’, a record so riddled with
post-punk infectiousness, it should come bearing its own STI warning with a
complimentary body-condom to boot. The long answer is, however, somewhat more
complicated than that. Essentially born out of frontman Antony Ellis’ seventeen
year-old desire to escape his native Northampton and follow his elder brother to
the bright lights of New York City because, as he puts it, “England was too shit
and cynical at the time”, the Heroes first came into being in 2003. “I guess it
was that sort of time in New York when being in a band seemed like the most
natural thing to do,” explains one-time Visa renegade Antony, “from 2000
onwards, it seemed like the most exciting city in the world. It was that sort of
time when The Strokes, The Rapture and Yeah Yeah Yeahs were all getting really
big and everything seemed to be focused on New York”

Eventually, Antony met Elliot (Thomson, guitarist) in a bar and they started
playing together, then within a two-week period they both met Nader (Khierbek,
bass), and after going through a couple of drummers over the next few years, in
early 2006 they’ve finally managed to find the person in the UK that’s gonna be
with with ‘em for good, and that’s Sam Embery. Elliot comments, “When I first
met Antony and we all decided to start playing music, I really wasn’t sure if
the difference in backgrounds/cultures of the members would be a hindrance or
not, but, as it turns out, we were able use it to help add another dimension to
the band. I think it has played a large role in what success we’ve had in both
countries.” Nader adds “Our geographical origins, which were exhibited sonically
with our various accents, were not our only differences. We hailed from a wide
range of musical influences, from Brit Pop to Rock to Punk. Finding a common
ground gave us our edge, and we soon learned the art of shaping catchy hook
laden songs into high energy, fast paced, danceable tunes. “

The route hasn’t been the most direct, and it’s taken a lot of hard work to get
to where they are now. After quickly developing a cult following in New York,
the band swiftly began their relentless assault on the UK. Sans record label
backing, the band booked and paid for their own tours – “That’s what credit
cards are for,” quips Ellis when questioned on the funding for these jaunts –
right down to the van-driving duties. “I’ve got 9 points on my license from
driving the tourbus around Britain with an illegal number of people in the
back,” says Antony. “One more self-funded tour and we’d have had to find another
driver!”

Tour supports with the likes of Brendan Benson, The Bravery and The Paddingtons
brought them to the attention of British gig-goers, their jittery, hook-laden
pop classicism winning fans the length and breadth of the country, on the back
of their own dime. It paid off, but it wasn’t easy. As Nader remembers “ Touring
was truly a test of tolerance. Especially the way we toured: crammed into a tiny
transit van, sharing one Travelodge hotel room, and performing on small stages.
We were within arms length of each other 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for
months at a time, like young siblings growing up in a tiny flat. The potentially
volatile situation actually galvanized us into a tighter band. We learned to
live with each-others eccentricities, and embrace our differences. In the end it
made us sound better, perform better, and most importantly, become best mates”

Antony continues. “We did 42 dates in 46 days, and at the end of it, we didn’t know
what to do with ourselves. But the reaction of British crowds has been validation
for us. We’ve never had much money to throw around – we’ve only ever released four
limited edition singles, so the support of our British fans has been incredibly
important to us. We look at everything we do as being building blocks, and hopefully
the release of the album will have a domino effect on everything we’ve done so far.”

‘Bend To The Breaks’ itself – sparsely recorded on their own buck in former Smashing
Pumpkin James Iha’s New York studio, is a jerking, jittery post-punk meisterwork
that’s less concerned with aspirations of skuzzy NY cool and concentrates instead
on the multi-faceted delights of razor-sharp pop songwriting, with doffs of the cap
to the likes of The Cars and – gasp! – The Police. From the spiky angular come-on
of opener ‘Head Games’ to the joyous reggae-pop hybrid, er, come on of ‘White Girls’
(‘ I see you from behind/ You know what’s on my mind,’ indeed, Mr. Ellis), it’s an
infuriatingly catchy collection of twelve potential singles rife with bedhopping
sexual frustration and choruses that etch themselves into your grey matter after
a mere cursory listen.

“I don’t like lazy comparisons, but I do think that people like Joe Jackson played
an incredibly important part in the songwriting aspect of the album. People often
get the wrong idea about us, they automatically think that because of our name
we’re gonna sound like The Jam. But for me, Elvis Costello and people like that
are a HUGE influence. That’s what we aimed for with this record, to get the sound
of an album like ‘My Aim Is True’, or Joe Jackson’s ‘Look Sharp’. But we’re our
own band, and we’ll play what we wanna play. Who we sound like isn’t the hugest
thing we think about. I just want things to sound catchy and melodic, and I think
a lot of people are scared of that kind of songwriting these days. I’m not ashamed
of writing catchy songs. I don’t give a fuck about which direction we go in.” says Ellis

The Heroes’ current direction, however, is onwards and upwards, with a planned (and
long-overdue, we might add) autumn return to these shores to coincide with the
release of ‘Bend To The Breaks’, this time no longer funded by their overworked
Mastercard.

Just who are the Five O’ Clock Heroes? You’re about to find out very, very soon,
(like when you finish downloading it!!!!)