LIVE ELECTRO
THE MAGNIFICENTS

The record label is German. The sound (filthy new-wave-synth-rock aided by a prehistoric beat box) is inextricably German. You'll find the record in the rack titled "Euro-Electro," yet careful examination of the sleeve reveals that The Magnificents are not the latest Munich underground sensations but hail from the rather less Teutonic city of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Allegedly put together in a 'laboratory in Saint Tropez... I mean Monte Carlo,' Casey Miller, Steven McGregor, Drew McFayden and Tommy Stuart make up the art-rock terrorists in the making combo who name John Carpenter, Sex Pistols and Peaches among their inspirations. The tracks that make up their debut 12 inch, Kids Now, found their way to Erkrankung Durch Musique, home of such tongue-in-cheek electro outfits as Queen Of Japan and Hong Kong Counterfeit, and label boss Mooner, himself a member of the famous Zombie Nation, demanded he be allow ed to release them. No doubt much to the envy of Glasgow's electro set, the Edinburgh-Munich express was declared open.
Listening to The Magnificents, one hundred million snippets of inluence expose themselves, but few stay around long enough to be caught. The basic recipe invokes late 1970s Rough Trade, Joy Division, Josef K and even early Numan, mixed with the contemporary techno-smut of Peaches, Jeans Team and Add N to X. This cross-pollination could easily be construed as the formula of a "magazine band," but taking The Magnificents (ahem...) magnificent live reputation into consideration, judgement should be reserved until the "in-the-flesh" experience.

Casey Miller promises the live show will contain everything from "a huge pile of analogue weapons and sound cannons," to a touch of "ritual sacrifice" and inevitably, "taking control of people's minds with noise." With this manipulation of the audience in mind, I ask of the band's mission statement.

'World domination," replies Miller much to nobody's surprise, tempered quickly however by his admission that he's "just stealing things from other people." And therein lies why you will like this band: musical magpies they may be, but they always have the intuition to steal only the best bits.

STEVEN CLARK

Mush Records