Duels are an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

formed in 2005. They have been described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as "one of Britain's most ambitious groups" The band's debut album, '' The Bright Lights And What I Should Have Learned'' was released in July 2006 and received an 8/10 review in the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', while also being named 'Album of the Week' in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', ''

'' and on XFM.

Band members

* Jon Foulger * Jim Foulger * Jon Maher * James Kirkbright * Whiskas

Career

Duels formed from the ashes of band SammyUSA. Their early demos received welcome attention from UK radio DJs such as

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

and

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music. Early life He attended The Ramsey Academy ...

. Their first limited edition single "Potential Futures" was released on the

Transgressive Records Transgressive Records is an independent record label based in London, formed in 2004. Its founders, Tim Dellow and Toby L, first met at a Bloc Party gig organised by Toby's Rockfeedback website. The label's debut release was "1am" by the Subwa ...

label on 18 July 2005. The song featured on the Fifa 2006 soundtrack. In May 2005, they signed to

Nude Records Nude Records is an independent record label, established in August 1991 in London. The label was set up and operated by Saul Galpern, who had previously worked with artists such as Simply Red, The Fall, Julian Cope, The Triffids, The Slits and ...

. Their second single, "Pressure On You", was released on 7 November 2005. Third single, "Animal" was released on Monday 10 April 2006. Duels' debut album, " The Bright Lights And What I Should Have Learned" was released in July 2006. It received a positive review in the New Musical Express (

), garnering an 8/10 review score,

Clash magazine ''Clash'' is a music and fashion magazine and website based in the United Kingdom. It is published four times a year by Music Republic Ltd, whose predecessor Clash Music Ltd went into liquidation. The magazine won the Best New Magazine award in ...

, Time Out and was named Album of the Week in

and on XFM. The band released two further EP's in 2006, "The Slow Build EP" and the "Once In The Night EP". Throughout 2006, the band played radio sessions for

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

Janice Long Janice Berry ( Chegwin; 5 April 1955 – 25 December 2021), known professionally by her first married name Janice Long, was an English broadcaster who was best known for her work in British music radio. In a career that spanned five decades, s ...

6Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961 in Manchester) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of the Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Ta ...

and

Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

and appeared on

The Album Chart Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. On 5 March 2007, the band announced via the blog on their Myspace page that they and their record label, Nude Records, had parted ways. Duels announced via their website on 13 September 2007 that their second album would be entitled ''The Barbarians Move In''. The album was exclusively digitally released via their official website from 14 February 2008, followed by a physical release on 28 April on

This Is Fake DIY ''DIY'' is a United Kingdom-based music publication, in print and online. Its free print edition is released monthly with a physical circulation of 40,000 in UK venues, clubs and shops. DIY Magazine ''DIY'' was launched in 2002 by then-editor ...

Records. A vinyl single version of "Regeneration" preceded the physical album. The album has received widespread critical acclaim and positive reviews:

Q Magazine ''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. '' ...
- "...laudably sophisticated, laudably widescreen, Q Recommends - ****"
Artrocker - "The album for armies to listen to before they go to war"

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
- "unequivocal brilliance...best comeback of 2008 so far - 8/10"

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
- "an Orwellian opus that bucks prevailing trends. One of Britain's most ambitious groups - ****"

Clash magazine ''Clash'' is a music and fashion magazine and website based in the United Kingdom. It is published four times a year by Music Republic Ltd, whose predecessor Clash Music Ltd went into liquidation. The magazine won the Best New Magazine award in ...
- "the kind of record they always threatened to make...a darkening canvas of the band's immense progression"

Leeds Music Scene Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
- "9/10"
'' The Sun'' - "enthralling"

Teletext A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...
- "a very English air of foreboding - 8/10"
Whisperin & Hollerin - "outstanding in range, inventiveness and emotional strength - 9/10"
Clickmusic - "dark, dramatic and sinister, but that brooding combination might just switch a light on in your head - ****"

Sound Of Violence In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
- "9/10"

Vibrations Vibration is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium point. The word comes from Latin ''vibrationem'' ("shaking, brandishing"). The oscillations may be periodic, such as the motion of a pendulum—or random, such ...
- "it would be difficult to overstate quite how good this record is"

Rocksound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...
- "grimly fiendish"
Subba-Cultcha - "something that will terrify us at first yet will fall in love with too - *****"
New Noise.net - "a quite beautiful record.....dark and disarming"

In February 2009, ¡Forward Russia! guitarist Whiskas joined the band as a full-time member. As of early 2009, Duels are writing and rehearsing their third full-length album.

Tour dates

Duels toured with

Graham Coxon Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Cox ...

, opening the nights for the former Blur guitarist,

The Rakes The Rakes were an English post-punk band formed in London in 2003. Their first album ''Capture/Release'' released in 2005, received a nine out of ten review in the ''NME'' and was rated 13th best album of the year in the same paper. The band ci ...

and across Europe with

The Kooks The Kooks () are an English pop-rock band formed in 2004 in Brighton. The band consists of Luke Pritchard (vocals/rhythm guitar), Hugh Harris (lead guitar/synthesizer/bass) and Alexis Nunez (drums). Their music is primarily influenced by th ...

and

The Zutons The Zutons are an English indie rock band, formed in 2001 in Liverpool. The band are currently composed of singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave McCabe, drummer Sean Payne and saxophonist Abi Harding. They released their debut album, '' Who Ki ...

. They have played the V Festival,

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

and opened the Main Stage at

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...

in 2006. They also played a one-off date with

The Automatic The Automatic (also known as The Automatic Automatic in the U.S.) was a Welsh rock band. The band's last-known lineup was composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesisers, James Frost on guitar, synthesisers, backing vocals and occas ...

, supporting

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2000 as Parva, releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation the band h ...

in Leeds, and the

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Festival in Texas in 2006.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' The Bright Lights And What I Should Have Learned'' - July 2006 *'' The Barbarians Move In'' - February 2008

Singles

*"Potential Futures" (18/7/2005) *"Pressure On You" (7/11/2005) *"Animal" (10/4/2006) UK No. 47 *"Idle Pursuits" (24/06/2006) UK No. 76 *The Slow Build EP (double 7" vinyl set) (24/07/2006) *Once In The Night EP (double 7" vinyl set)(16/10/2006) *Regeneration (7" vinyl) (14/08/2008)

References

External links

Official websiteThe Barbarians Move In.comThis Is Fake DIY RecordsMySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duels Indie rock groups from Leeds Musical groups established in 2005