Baby Chaos
Baby Chaos | |
---|---|
Also known as | Deckard (1998–2003) |
Origin | Glasgow, Scotland |
Genres | Rock |
Years active | 1993–2003, 2014–present |
Labels | East West, Atlantic, Elektra, Reprise |
Members | Chris Gordon Bobby Dunn Grant McFarlane Davy Greenwood |
Past members | Gen Matthews |
Website | www.babychaos.com |
Baby Chaos are a Scottish rock band based in Glasgow, who originally formed in 1993, then returned in 2015 after a long hiatus.[1] The band consists of Chris Gordon on lead vocals & guitar, Grant McFarlane on guitar & backing vocals, Bobby Dunn on bass and Davy Greenwood on drums.
Formation and 90s success
Baby Chaos formed when the band members met at school, in Stewarton, Ayrshire. They relocated to Glasgow and in 1993 released their first EP, Buzz, on the Electric Honey label[2] before being signed to East West Records.[3]
Their debut album Safe Sex, Designer Drugs and the Death of Rock and Roll was released in the UK, USA and Canada in 1994.[4] They toured across the UK and Europe with the likes of Terrorvision[5] and The Wildhearts[6] in 1994 and also the USA where they did a tour supporting Elastica in 1995.[7] In 1996 they released the second album Love Your Self Abuse which earned them a 5K review in Kerrang magazine and has since been cited as one of Kerrang reader's 100 best British rock albums.[8] The second album was released in the UK on East West and in the USA and Japan on Atlantic Records the year after[9] when issues at East West led to them being transferred to Atlantic for a short time before their contact there left and they found themselves without a label.[10]
Deckard
In 1998 they underwent a line up change as drummer Gen Matthews (previously of Jesus Jones) joined in place of Davy. The group decided to change name to Deckard and start afresh with a new record deal with Reprise in the USA.[11] They released 2 albums as Deckard - Stereodreamscene which was recorded in LA and Dreams Of Dynamite And Divinity, which was self-released in 2003.[12]
After Deckard split Chris went on to make music with Regency Buck[13] and then formed Union of Knives with Dave McClean & Craig Grant.[14] Union of Knives put out the album Violence & Birdsong on Relentless Records in 2006,[15] which was described by The Guardian as "dance-rock...a nocturnal rendezvous between Muse and Massive Attack."[16] After being dropped during changes at their record label, Union of Knives split up and then later evolved into Song of Return,[17] for which Chris was involved in the writing but decided to take a break from playing live.[18]
Reunion
In 2010 former label mate Ginger Wildheart persuaded Baby Chaos to reform for a one off live date to support him in Glasgow.[19] Following the gig the band felt inspired to work together again, but didn't want to just play their old material so they began to write a new album.[20] In 2014 Baby Chaos returned for some further live dates, encouraged by Ginger who stood in on guitar for Grant at Halloween when he couldn't make the show,[21] and also guested on guitar when they supported him again in Glasgow.[22] 2015 saw the first release of new material with the original line-up,[23] both self produced and self released.[24] The single You Can't Shut Us Up was accompanied by a handful of live dates in Spring 2015.[25] The album Skulls, Skulls, Skulls, Show Me The Glory was released in April to positive reviews from the rock press[26] who praised both the strength of the song writing and the production.[27]
In September 2015 the band toured the UK supporting The Wildhearts playing venues such as Nottingham Rock City[28] and Shepherd's Bush Empire.[29] In April 2016 they played 3 dates in France, touring Paris, Epinal and Strasbourg with Dead Pop Club and Napoleon Solo.[30][31]
On 1st January 2016 a download-only companion album to Skulls, Skulls, Skulls, Show Me The Glory was released. Entitled Stripped Skulls it featured new recordings of stripped back versions of the album tracks, giving a different take on the songs.[32]
Discography
As Baby Chaos
Singles & EPs
Buzz EP (1993, Electric Honey Records)
Sperm (1993, East West)
Golden Tooth (1994, East West)
Hello Victim (1994, East West)
Buzz (1994, East West)
Hello (1996, East West)
Ignoramus (1996, East West)
Blackbirds (2015, self released)
Albums
Safe Sex, Designer Drugs and the Death of Rock and Roll (1994, East West)
Love Your Self Abuse (1996, East West)
Skulls, Skulls, Skulls, Show Me The Glory (2015, Three Hands Records)
Stripped Skulls (2016, website only download album)
As Deckard
Singles & EPs
The Deckard EP (1999, Reprise Records)
Holy Rolling EP (2004, self released)
Albums
Stereodreamscene (2000, Reprise Records)
Dreams of Dynamite and Divinity (2003, self released)
References
- ^ http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-03-10/baby-chaos-return-with-first-single-in-17-years
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/Baby-Chaos-Buzz-EP/release/2560540
- ^ http://themicmagazine.co.uk/2015/02/19/baby-chaos-back-new-album/
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/artist/850553-Baby-Chaos
- ^ http://h2g2.com/entry/A535358
- ^ http://www.thewildhearts.com/history/history3.shtml
- ^ http://veglam.com/2015/05/21/baby-chaos-out-of-the-silence/
- ^ http://rockandrollreport.com/kerrang-magazines-top-100-british-rock-albums-of-all-time/
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/Baby-Chaos-Love-Your-Self-Abuse/master/116959
- ^ http://www.geocities.ws/retropalace/babychaos.html
- ^ http://themicmagazine.co.uk/2015/02/19/baby-chaos-back-new-album/
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/artist/1362757-Deckard-4
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/artist/193611-Regency-Buck
- ^ http://www.newhellfireclub.co.uk/2014/10/the-trio-of-awesome-band-interviews-is.html
- ^ http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/products/UnionOfKnives-ViolenceBirdsong-Relentless-42662.html
- ^ http://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/aug/11/popandrock.electronicmusic
- ^ http://www2.jpscotland.co.uk/musicblog/2010/03/on-radar-song-of-return.html
- ^ http://dearscotland.com/2011/06/15/peenko%E2%80%99s-scots-way-hay-%E2%80%93-song-of-return/
- ^ http://www.newhellfireclub.co.uk/2014/10/the-trio-of-awesome-band-interviews-is.html
- ^ http://themicmagazine.co.uk/2015/02/19/baby-chaos-back-new-album/
- ^ http://louderthanwar.com/ginger-wildhearts-halloween-hootenanny-wolverhampton-slade-rooms-live-review/
- ^ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/ginger-wildheart-glasgow-x-factors-4522414
- ^ http://www.uberrock.co.uk/cd-reviews/24-april-cd/14314-baby-chaos-skulls-skulls-skulls-show-me-the-glory-self-released.html
- ^ http://www.newhellfireclub.co.uk/2014/10/the-trio-of-awesome-band-interviews-is.html
- ^ http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-03-10/baby-chaos-return-with-first-single-in-17-years
- ^ http://louderthanwar.com/baby-chaos-skulls-skulls-skulls-show-glory-album-review/
- ^ http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/13209854.Baby_Chaos__Skulls__Skulls__Skulls__Show_Me_The_Glory__Baby_Chaos_/
- ^ http://louderthanwar.com/wildhearts-baby-chaos-hey-hello-rock-city-nottingham-live-picture-review/
- ^ http://www.thewildhearts.com/2015/05/05/the-wildhearts-phuq-tour/
- ^ http://musique.jeuxactu.com/interview-baby-chaos-interview-2016-pour-le-grand-retour-des-heros-de-glasgow-19754.htm French interview
- ^ https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://musique.jeuxactu.com/interview-baby-chaos-interview-2016-pour-le-grand-retour-des-heros-de-glasgow-19754.htm&prev=search English translation
- ^ http://www.babychaos.com/product/stripped-skulls-download/
External links
- www.babychaos.com Official Website
- Wildhearts Messageboard Discography info from the Wildhearts discussion board
- Discogs Baby Chaos discography
- Discogs Deckard discography
- Baby Chaos Facebook group