Ac acoustics

ac acoustics are a critically acclaimed Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow, formed in 1990 (see 1990 in music).

Biography
Arguably now a spent force, ac acoustics briefly flirted with a breakthrough in the mid-late 1990s. They were widely championed by the music press and by peers such as Placebo.

At their peak they combined dense, fuzz-heavy riffage with cryptic, poetic lyrics, (Example, from "Hammerhead": In this light/I wear my hammerhead high/On a big stick/With an ice cream float) before later introducing keyboards and moving into a sparser, more repetition-based direction. Initially, they owed a debt to The Jesus and Mary Chain — blending furious white-noise with early Pavement-style experimentation and augmenting their two guitar, bass and drums instrumentation with saxophones and violins.

Their first release was the 1992 five track Wrist Eye demo, notable also for featuring Gerard Love from Teenage Fanclub on backing vocals. The demo gained them a recording contract with the independent label Elemental Records, who released their debut single, Sweatlodge/MV, in 1993 (which was recorded for a paltry £340). At this time, despite their relative obscurity, they displayed an aptitude for getting on the bill at relatively high profile gigs and opened for PJ Harvey, Spacemen 3 and The Jesus Lizard, amongst others.

In 1994, the band's debut album, Able Treasury, was released. Demonstrating a tighter sound, it was also notable for its unusual song titles—for example, "Mother Head Sander", "Oregon Pine Washback" and future live favourite "Sister Grab Operator".

Shortly after this release, Mark Raine replaced Roger Ward on guitar and the band began to move in a rockier, less feedback-drenched direction. This culminated in the 1997 release of the band's masterpiece, Victory Parts and gigs with Embrace, Stereophonics, dEUS, as well as a couple of tours with Placebo (Brian Molko was a relentless champion of the band and often wore a Stunt Girl T-shirt, including on Placebo's Top of the Pops appearance for Nancy Boy). The band's acumen and wall-of-noise approach garnered them sponsorship from Marshall amplifiers.

In 1999 one of their songs was chosen to be on Seriously Scottish: Music from Contemporary Scotland, a CD compiled by the Scottish Arts Council to send to cultural ministries in other countries.

Despite the accolades for Victory Parts in the music press, ac acoustics remained a cult act. They were at times called "a typically unambitious indie band". They left Elemental and signed with Yoyo Recordings, releasing the EPs Like Ribbons and She's With Stars. They parted with Yoyo in 2000 and moved to Cooking Vinyl, releasing a further EP Crush (continuing the Placebo connection thanks to backing vocal contributions from Brian Molko).

The band's line-up was augmented by a keyboardist, Paul Murray, and two further albums, Understanding Music and O followed, the latter being completed in a mere ten days. Understanding Music was described by The Scotsman as "their best album to date", A favorable review in The Guardian said, "There are times when only introspection will do, and those are the moments when AC Acoustics come into their own."

The band have always preferred to be referred to in lower case typography.

They have featured twice in John Peel's annual Festive 50 chart, both tracks featuring on the Victory Parts album:
* "Stunt Girl" (Number 26 in 1996)
* "I Messiah Am Jailer" (Number 19 in 1997)

Prior to ac acoustics, Dave Gormley played drums for fellow Glaswegian band Thrum.

Discography
Albums
*Able Treasury (1994)
*Victory Parts (1997)
*Understanding Music (2000)
*O (2002)

Singles
* Wrist Eye (five-track demo UK 1992)
* Sweatlodge/MV (7" blue vinyl UK 1993)
* Hand Passes Plenty (CD EP UK 1994)
* I Messiah Am Jailer (single-sided 7" UK 1997)
* Stunt Girl (CD EP UK 1999)
* Like Ribbons (CD EP UK 1999)
* She's With Stars (CD EP UK 1999)
* Crush (CD EP UK 2000)

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See Also

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