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:

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.