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Klaxons

IN AN ONGOING COLLABORATION, FASHION DESIGNER AND ROCK PHOTOGRAPHER HEDI SLIMANE TEAMS UP WITH MUSIC WRITER ALEX NEEDHAM TO BRING THE UNDERGROUND TO CENTER STAGE

KLAXONS
Standard-bearers for a rave new world

Periodically, London is convulsed by the kind of microfad that is incredibly exciting for the people inside it and the subject of much hilarity and incomprehension (and maybe a little jealousy) from the people locked outside. Such is the current craze called new rave, all but invented by three sharp 20-somethings from Stratford-upon-Avon. Named after the kind of air horn that used to be blasted at raves, Klaxons has almost single-handedly revived fluoro T-shirts, glow sticks, sweaty warehouse parties, and the playing of ’90s rave records in indie discos—all of which new rave hallmarks have swept through the more hipster parts of the capital over the past six months. Klaxons—whose music is a giddy mix of clattering punk funk and euphoric trance-y keyboards—has even covered two classic British dance anthems: Kicks Like a Mule’s “The Bouncer” (refrain: “Your name’s not down, you’re not coming in”) and Grace’s rousing “Not Over Yet.” Having spent the past year building up an ever more hysterical live following, and getting right up the noses of the rock traditionalists in the process (Noel Gallagher of Oasis described it as the worst band he’d ever seen), Klaxons is now setting out to prove that there’s more to it than the kitsch rave accoutrements. It’s working, too. On the Sunday afternoon these pictures were taken, the band—Simon Taylor, 24 (keyboards); Jamie Reynolds, 26 (vocals); and James Righton, 23 (keyboards)—discovered that its third single, the trippy and addictive “Golden Skans,” had reached the British Top 20. New rave be damned: Klaxons’ next self-proclaimed mission is to subvert normality itself. “We’ve got an unashamed desire to be a pop band while being as out there as possible,” says Reynolds. Taylor posits Klaxons as the antidote to a played-out post-punk revival: “We want to be ambitious, celebratory, and euphoric.” In 1978, X-Ray Spex sang about the day the world turned Day-Glo. Thanks to Klaxons, it’s happening again.

BLOOD RED SHOES
Raucous punk duo with a guitar sound to DIY for

Blood Red Shoes is so down with the kids they don’t even like the word “fans” because it implies a division between, well, it and us. A viscerally exciting garage punk duo from the British seaside town of Brighton, these kids are inspired by old grunge bands like Bikini Kill and Babes in Toyland. Releasing three very limited edition DIY singles last year, the band—guitarist and singer Laura-Mary Carter, 21, and drummer and singer Steven Ansell, 22—found itself supporting Panic! at the Disco at London’s 5,000-capacity Brixton Academy at the end of 2006. The pair didn’t much like the emo heroes’ attitude either, and sternly recounted to the music press the story of how Panic! had rudely turned some competition-winning fans away from its dressing-room door. Blood Red Shoes’ all-embracing ethos was in full display on the afternoon these pictures were taken, when the two played an under-18 gig. Reveling in the energy of a crowd of young rock and roll fans so excited they were literally climbing the walls, Ansell and Carter blasted them with raucous slivers of primitive garage punk, decorated with what Paul Smith from British indie band Maximo Park describes as “the best guitar sound since Nirvana.” Strong believers in doing things the old-school, ethical, punk-rock way, the band eagerly embraced the new converts who swamped it at the end of the gig, keen to become part of its gang. But you wouldn’t want to mess with Blood Red Shoes either. When another band, Robots in Disguise, was rude, the band pissed in its vodka and apple juice. Named after Ginger Rogers’ bleeding feet and far more than just the White Stripes in reverse, Blood Red Shoes looks set to make sure that rock and roll 2007-style will be red in footwear, tooth, and claw.