RELEASES
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The Young Knives Official Site
The Young Knives are Henry Dartnall (vox, guitar), House of Lords (bass, vox) and Oliver Askew (drums, vox). They hail from this place called Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. That's in England. Henry and House of Lords are brothers and Oliver a long-time friend.
In 2002 they released their first mini-album The Young Knives: Are Dead on Shifty Disco. Then things went quiet for a bit until they found themselves a proper manager. Gang Of Four's Andy Gill, who flipped over their demo, produced their first EP, Junky Music Makes My Heart Beat Faster. TYK eventually inked with indie label Transgressive Records (The Subways, The Mystery Jets).
Fast forward to 2006. TYK's popularity seemingly explodes. Voices of Animals and Men is released in the U.K. in August 2006 and enters the Top 40 chart at #21. The singles "The Decision," "Here Comes The Rumor Mill," "She's Attracted To" and "Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer)," all place on the UK Top 40 chart. All of their videos are playlisted at MTV2 UK with "She's Attracted To" being A-listed. The critical praise continues to mount with the UK Guardian, Mojo, Uncut and Q all giving Animals and Men four star reviews. They hit the road with Dirty Pretty Things and The Rakes. They play their biggest gig ever. They play a bunch of summer music festivals. Their fans continue to grow. They even make it out to SXSW prompting the Austin Chronicle to write, "[Mark E.] Smithian brilliance, leveled by a melodic, strangely dark guitar squall, thick, meaty drum work; with the lyrical smarts of Smith and company hanging over the show like a funerary crepe, and the occasional chiming guitar strike echoing Interpol's most lucid moments." The album ranks on several 2006 end of year lists including Mojo, NME, Q, Observer Music Monthly, and The Sun Newspaper.
Fast forward to 2007. TYK still sport ill-fitting charity shop suits, wear NHS spectacles and well those haircuts, who knows about those? They still live in the country and they still like gardening. They will release Voices of Animals and Men on February 20, 2007 in the U.S. They will travel stateside to give us a chance to check-out one of their much talked about live shows. They will gain even more fans. They are The Young Knives, "sharp young blades with a steely resolve."
(Tony Naylor, NME)