Late of the Pier

Castle Donington provided the setting for Late of the Pier, assembled in 2004 by a quartet of 16- and 17-year-olds whose indie-electro sound proved difficult to categorize within the surrounding scene. Their tracks balance intricate arrangements with insistent grooves, layering grimy basslines, synthesizers, and video-game textures in ways that most often evoke the Klaxons while also drawing parallels to Prince, Frank Zappa, and the Human League. Operating completely independently at first, the band tracked material in bedrooms and offered the resulting 14-track Zarcorp Demo as a free online download. Way Out Records pressed the debut 12-inch, Space and the Woods, in a run of 500 copies issued during March 2007. Half a year afterward Moshi Moshi followed with another limited edition of 500 copies containing the next single, Bathroom Gurgle. After founding their own imprint, Zarcorp, the group prepared to issue a third 12-inch, The Bears Are Coming, on their own. A 2008 double A-side, Space and the Woods/Focker, brought further attention, which grew when the band supported Kaiser Chiefs across a U.K. tour, leading to the official release of their debut album, Fantasy Black Channel, through Astralwerks in July 2008.