BIOGRAPHY
Ludes enlisted none other than Chris Kimsey to help them on 'Radio'. Having produced the Rolling Stones as well as Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh, they thought he was perfectly placed to capture their ska inflected rock n'roll sound.
And how? 'Radio' manages to update the Two Tone sound and transplant it to present day Camberwell, all delivered with the cocky swagger of The Faces. It also describes perfectly the world that Ludes live in, a world of dodgy bedsits, broken tellys, AM radio and crucially 'the devil's music' getting you through the night.
"Radio has always seduced me in that you can tune into any kind of music, whoever you are, whatever you are doing. I go to sleep with the radio on, I wake up to it - just there making the day roll by, giving life it's groove" (David Ashby)
PHOTOS / REVIEWS
Brighton Life
“As the most exciting band to come out of London since The Libertines, Ludes’ first headline show in Brighton looks set to be the one must-see gig of December. A clutch of startling performances and a blazing debut single ‘Just a girl’ has earned Ludes glowing reviews, Ludes (the Czech word for “crazy girl” and a sixties drug slang-term) effortlessly blend strains from a panoply of influences and styles from Skiffle and Ska to Spaghetti Westerns and deliver their music with a timelessly cool rock and roll swagger, the spirit of The Stones in ’63 and The Clash in ‘77.”
Tasty Fanzine (Album Review)
This album opens with a seriously contemporary feel about it - the sound of the now, if you will. It sounds very angular, stop-starty, raucous sing along choruses and clattering guitars.
'Sailor Boy' is under two minutes long and belts out like punk-shanty hardcore with a stomach churning rumbling bass line. And 'Mr Benson' is a whimsical ditty over toy keyboards about suburban deviant sexual experiences - no easy topic to cover in two minutes.
A slight ska element also seems to come to the fore quite regularly and 'Song for a Friend' sounds like Pogues-fuelled bust up at closing time in a Dublin bar. So welcome to the fold, Ludes, you are most welcome.
DISCOGRAPHY
Albums
The Dark Art Of Happiness
Singles
She Was Just A Girl
Radio
Traffic Lights EP
