EDitorial ± 15-Oct-2012
We Remain Dingus Khan
I confess, I'm obsessed. With a band. A local band. A local band whose first two singles I've played so much that I find The Boy humming them.
They are and they remain Dingus Khan. I first caught the eight of them back in July up at that Latitude. Not many bands make you grin from ear to ear from the word go; they did. Ambulance choreography? Check. Cutlery related lyrics? Check. References about morphing into Elbow mid-set? Check. Vaguely shambolic and chaotic? Check. There's your whole package.
Big thanks are due to the fantastic BBC Suffolk Introducing podcast, presented by Graeme Mac and Richard Haugh, who've provided a sweetshop of sugary goodness in the form of most of DK's actual Latitude set, numerous rambling live appearances and the most recent Love Me Do Beatles tribute track. I was stupidly excited to find a bonus track (Bird In The House) on the 9th March podcast just last night. Ridiculous.
Then, somehow, I found myself at three of their gigs in as many weeks. I Made A List:
- [Sep 25] UCS Kai Bar, Ipswich: convinced I'd missed them due to a ping-pong game, then swung past on way home about 11pm to find them just about to play, quite the result
- [Sep 28] Steamboat, Ipswich: headlined a sweaty night of four bands ending with a stage dive and crawl to the exit
- [Oct 10] Epic, Norwich: on at 7:30pm prompt as part of a John Peel benefit gig followed by Bearsuit, Undertones and none other than The (Mighty) Fall -- highlights here
For once, Eldest said it best:
Dad's a total Dingus Khan fan girl.
— Ella Broom (@Shrimpella_) October 11, 2012
At UCS, it was satisfying to overhear one of the guys on the door dismiss what was coming out of the speakers as "noise". He was right, of course. But it's a joyful sound full of plastic flowers, sinking ships and only the occasional mass murdering maniac man. Like a Caterham 7, their live performance goes from 0-60 in about 5 seconds and certain bits could well fly off. Their sheer energy could fuel a small town, maybe the size of Manningtree.
Debut album, lovably entitled Support Mistley Swans,
is out on 22nd October.