The Arcadian Kicks were an indie rock band from

Kinver Kinver is a large village in the District of South Staffordshire in Staffordshire, England. It is in the far south-west of the county, at the end of the narrow finger of land surrounded by the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and the We ...

in South Staffordshire (near

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

), who formed in 2006. They have described their sound as "Spectoresque, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin... a bit of light shoegaze and Yeah Yeah Yeahs mixed up". They finished recording their debut album, ''Making Lovers'', in 2010.

History

The band formed in early 2006 when the bandmates were studying for GCSEs at Edgecliff High School in Kinver. They are co-managed by Ian Light and Jon Brookes, the drummer of The Charlatans. Brookes was a judge at the Surface Unsigned battle of the bands that they took part in, and after watching another of their gigs he offered to manage them. In 2009/10, they recorded their self-financed debut album at Vale Studios in Worcestershire in a two-week session; it was produced and mixed by

Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi ...

who produced records for Blondie, and who came across their music on MySpace. They plan to record with Chapman again in January 2011. They released their single "19 Days" in August 2010. They write their songs collectively. Wilson and Pennington later broke off from the group and founded Ekkah, producing post-Disco 1980s R&B.

Performances

They run and regularly play at the Syndicate Club Night at The Sound Bar in Birmingham (originally at Bash Bar and then the Sunflower Lounge). In September 2008 they played at KerrangFest (part of

ArtsFest ArtsFest was an annual arts festival held in September in Birmingham, England. Between 1997 and 2012 ArtsFest brought together free short demonstrations of dance, music, film and theatre to concert halls, theatres, and open-air stages in vari ...

) in Birmingham, and in November 2009 they played live on

BBC WM BBC Radio WM is the BBC's local radio station serving the West Midlands. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Mailbox in Birmingham. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 236,000 lis ...

Introducing. In 2010 they performed 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 ...

on the

BBC Introducing BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, 6 ...

stage, the

Wychwood Festival Wychwood Festival is an annual music festival held at Cheltenham racecourse in Gloucestershire, UK. As well as music, the family-friendly three-day festival includes workshops, comedy, the Children's Literature Festival, and a Silent disco, Head ...

, Napa Live in Ayia Napa, and made their third appearance at the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...

. They played KerrangFest again in September 2010.

Reception

''Artrocker'' called them "a fairly tradional angst-pop band, boosted by some unexpected sax solos, ... soulful hollering, ndsome interestingly growly guitars." Reviewing them live in 2008, they said that they "play rattle and roll with a Zeppelin style commitment to excellent musicianship. Many of their tunes start out sounding traditional, morph into a psychedelic middle sections, then come out growling like werewolves at the other end." Glasswerk said of "19 Days" that "the track appears to remain on one level, seemingly lacking any conviction from the musicians who are behind it... other tracks ... far outshine '19 Days'." "19 Days" has been played on BBC Radio 2 by Radcliffe & Maconie and Bob Harris. Popped Music said of "Black and White" that "you have a sound that is altogether quite different from your average indie band."

References

External links

The Arcadian Kicks
on Myspace
The Arcadian Kicks
on Reverbnation {{DEFAULTSORT:Arcadian Kicks, The English indie rock groups Musical groups established in 2006 Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands