Biography
The Situationists, a Sheffield quartet, have moved beyond Arctic Monkeys associations by cultivating a sharp, angular strain of guitar pop that aligns more closely with Bloc Party than with Alex Turner’s circle. Emerging in 2006 from the ashes of the promising yet fleeting Umlaut, frontman Dan Shamplin-Hall, guitarist Sam Weatherald, bassist Nick Cox, and drummer Ralf Wilson captured their debut demo inside a basement equipped only with a pair of microphones acquired at Poundland. That resourceful method attracted early champions including Steve Lamacq, Radio 1’s Huw Stephens, and XFM’s John Kennedy, the last of whom booked the band for an X-Posure session in Manchester. Throughout the remainder of 2007 the members continued writing and tracking material inside a makeshift studio of their own. One year afterward they issued their debut EP, the limited-edition This City Holds Us All, via Tough Love Records. Additional milestones included reaching the final 14 of Virgin Mobile’s Road to V contest, opening for the Futureheads on home turf, and securing a place on the BBC Introducing... bill at the Reading/Leeds Festival.
Albums