Gorillaz

Gorillaz are a turbo boosted four piece in overdrive. Their race-turned sound is an F1 Kong with Mighty Joe Young at the wheel. They were last heard at their now infamous debut gig at the Camden Brownhouse, which ended in a riot (natch). On November 27th Gorillaz release their first EP, Tomorrow Comes Today on Parlophone Records. Laugh now but the future belongs to them.

Gorillaz are the brainchild of Murdoc, a snaggle-toothed Svengali from Stoke-On-Trent. He’s a self-taught bassistwith a mind like a rusty steel trap and a burning desire to create a chart-topping band. Influences: – Sabbath, Dub, J Andrew Anderson, Dennis Wilson. From day one Gorillaz’ warped back-seat driver knew that good tunes weren’t enough to succeed; he needed good looks and good equipment, neither of which he had.

Murdoc met frontman 2D while ram-raiding the Organ Emporium where he worked. 2D is a sweetheart with a blank sheet of paper where his mind should be. His black-eyes and vacant stare make people think he’s cool and enigmatic, but he’s just got a migraine. Voice like an angel. Arse like a Satsuma. Murdoc recognised perfect pop material. Influences: – Butorphanol Tartrate, Phil Oakey, Lucio Fulci.

Next to join was drummer, Russel, a hip-hop hard man from the US of A. Russel draws upon spooky mates to help guide his beats. The funky phantoms live in Russel’s hunking frame and pop out every so often to provide some undead rapping. Russel himself is actually a bit posh. With an enviable wardrobe and a private education, Russel is a proper musician. Murdoc discovered him working in a Soho rap store after his parents had moved him to London. Influences: – Farrakhan, Chaka Kahn.

Which just left them needing a guitarist. An ad in the NME resulted in a FedEx freight container arriving, out of which jumped Noodle, a 10 year old Asian axe princess. Kick-ass riff-meister, martial arts expert, little ice maiden. She looks at the world though unfazed eyes. Influences: – Haiku poetry, Lao Zi, Richie Sambora. Now Gorillaz were complete.

Tomorrow Comes Today is a four track ep whose far flung influences range from Jamaican Dub to Stateside Hip-Hop, from Cuban love songs to South London scum-punk. The four crazed musicians meld their diverse backgrounds into a subversive, modern, yet utterly accessible sound. Totally hot. Totally cool.

Their full-on audio attack draws an eclectic mix of additional musicians and artists into the fold, including Miho Hatori, Jamie Hewlett, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Tina Frantz, Damon Albarn and Ibrahim Ferrer and is produced by Dan The Automator.