Apr 03 2008 4:29 pm,
Profile: The Shortwave Set
Words: Charlie Ivens
For some bands, a preoccupation with the bottom line goes hand in hand with a life in music. In the age of Damien Hirst's diamond-encrusted skull and The Neptunes' million-dollar beat, separating art from commerce is virtually impossible – which makes stumbling upon artists who simply aren't motivated by a shred of careerism all the more gratifying.
The Shortwave Set are one such bunch, favouring unsullied creativity over matters fiscal. “We leave that to others,” says singer/guitarist Andy Pettitt. He says this a lot. Crafting debut long-player 'The Debt Collection' at home from samples of scratchy charity shop LPs, toy instruments and the singular vocals of Swedish chanteuse Ulrike Bjorsne, south-east Londoners Pettitt and Dave Farrell delivered the completed album to Independiente, who released it in 2005. The critics loved it – but hardly anybody bought it.
Hardly anybody, that is, except one Brian Burton. Better known as Danger Mouse, one half of Gnarls Barkley and one of the most pop-literate, music-immersed polymaths working today, DM took the band on tour with Gnarls and declared 'The Debt Collection' his album of 2005. When it came to recording the follow-up, it was almost a foregone conclusion to The Shortwave Set – who by this point had “cordially” parted company with their label – that Danger Mouse would produce it.
Some luck, hey? “Danger Mouse is an absolute
Such a chance meeting resulted in The Shortwave Set playing the 150-capacity Brixton Windmill and 4,000-capacity
What the hell is a replica sun machine? “A copy of something that doesn't really exist,” says Pettitt, who currently looks the spit of Kel Knight from 'Kath & Kim'. “There are many things that could be described as a replica sun machine though, like a precious relationship or an X-Box...”
If you think you're detecting an air of mysticism surrounding The Shortwave Set, you're probably right. The new album contains its fair share of callbacks to 60s psychedelia and 70s pop-folk songwriting, all wrapped up in a thoroughly contemporary blanket of Danger Mouse's pin-drop production.
Pristine new single 'No Social' is a case in point: a perfect bridge between the two albums, it cements The Shortwave Set's position as proud outsiders while planting the planet-sized acerbic hook of “Everyone knows/that a dog dressed in clothes/is still a dog” in your brain.
“Out on a limb/the going's rough,” as the same song says – but The Shortwave Set aren't about to let such irrelevances as not fitting in get in the way of making inspiringly unfettered, forward-thinking pop music.
'Replica Sun Machine' is released on Wall Of Sound on April 28th.
