Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Remember Them?


Matt Sims began startling audiences since 2000 with his unusually provocative performances that mix equal amounts political satire , surreal imagery and sensual debauch. With three dancers (à la The Fall), this performance group explored the contemporary connections between media, consumerism, sex, and entertainment. Gaining comparisons from artist Paul McCarthy’s food work to James Brown’s hip work, this show caused enough of a stir to get the attention of DJ Hell who quickly signed them to his International DJ Gigolo Records label alongside the likes of Tuxedo Moon, Terence Fixmer, CROSSOVER, Vitalic and Linda Lamb. The release of Mt. Sims’s first album Ultrasex on Emperor Norton Records, now a cult classic electro-pop album, put Sims on the map internationally with the hit song “Hate Fuck.”

After releasing a second album Wild Light and touring extensively throughout Europe as a three-piece band (as opposed to a performance art piece as was the case with Ultrasex) Sims decided on breaking the band up and relocating to Berlin, Germany. It is here that Sims began working on the new incarnation of the band with Randy Twigg on bass, Andre Lange on drums, and Thomas Stern of Crime and The City Solution at the behind the sound and production. A long-distance friendship between Sims and Hungry Eye Records (New York City/ Montreal, home of The Bellmer Dolls, Sixteens, The Holy Kiss) led to a collaboration and the release of a limited 12”, the A Grave EP, and now the third full length, Happily Ever After.

This new album is an even further departure from electronic dance music and is creepier and more aggressive in its content than any other Mt. Sims album, featuring guest musicians Jessie Evans (Vanishing, Autonervous, Subtonix) and Toby Damit (Swans, Iggy Pop). Happily Ever After is set for release on Hungry Eye Records this fall and sounds something like a less electronic She Wants Revenge meets Joy Division stuck at the Hacienda on a lot of bad pills and blinded all the fog in Britain at once. It's manic dark stuff that rocks like a mother fucker. Who knew that Mt. Sims still had it in them, but they do and that's a good thing.

Download: The Bitten Bite Back

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