Introducing.. O Children

(Post-Punk/New Wave/Dance)

The Topman CTRL shows are quite a novel idea; Topman's music 'experts' pick a band once each month - this time Filthy Dukes - who then take turns to feature the music they love at a series of gigs across the country. This time it was Bournemouth's 60 Million Postcards' turn to play host to We Have Band, Clock Opera and the only band i actually managed to catch in the end, O Children. They are a 80s inspired post-punk/dance band (very keen to dispel Joy Division comparisons) with one of the tallest lead singers i've seen in a long time (supposedly around 6"6), and a name directly referencing a song by Aussie band Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds.

As far as i can tell, they formed in London out of the ashes of a band called Bono Must Die a couple of years ago and released their rather morbid dance single Dead Disco Dancers in July of last year. They probably wouldn't appreciate my observation that the first half of their twangy main bassline on this song sounds almost exactly like Passion Pit's Sleepyhead. Whatever you think it sounds like, the fantastic Golden Filter Remix (MP3) of this track picked up quite a bit of blogosphere attention late last year.

Their music is filled with tribal drumming, funky basslines and the overwhelmingly powerful, almost booming vocal of Tobi O'Kandi, who sings about all things dark and gloomy, rather unsurprisingly from the lead singer of a band where two song titles begin with the word 'dead'. Their songs consistently retain scattered background synth work and off-key percussive leads, and all of their drum sounds have that classic 80s New Order reverbial sound so typical of the era. If you remain unoffended by the post-punk revival scene that took over popular rock music in the early 2000s, then O Children are just another band pining for the 80s once again, and recreating its cultural pinnacle in the studio.

File Next To - The Horrors, Joy Division, Interpol

O Children Myspace

O Children - Dead Disco Dancer (MP3)
O Children - Dead Eye Lover (MP3)