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Klaxons are a Mercury Prize Winning English band, based in London. The word ' Klaxon ' is derived from the Greek verb ''klazō'', meaning "to shriek", and most commonly refers to air-raid sirens or other warning devices. They are currently signed to Rinse Records, their own branch of Polydor Records . Following the success of previous singles " Magick " and " Golden Skans ", the band released their debut album, '' Myths Of The Near Future '' on January 29 , 2007 . The album won the 2007 Nationwide Mercury Prize .1 After headlining their first tour (the 2006 NME Indie Rave Tour ), as well as playing numerous festivals worldwide, the band are currently working on their second album.2 They have also announced a full UK tour for November - December 2007 (their biggest UK tour to date).3 HISTORY Formation (2005 - 2006) Simon Taylor-Davis attended school in Stratford-upon-Avon . He was taught guitar by James Righton , who was in the year below him at school. He studied Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University and was approached by Jamie Reynolds , the boyfriend of one of his housemates, to form a band. Jamie Reynolds grew up in Bournemouth and Southampton and was active in several bands from his early teens, most notably the bands Thermal and Real/Sweet/Deal. The bands quickly dissolved, however, and he dropped out of school to work in record shops over the next few years, studying philosophy at the same time. He moved to London after he was made redundant, spending his redundancy money on a studio kit in order to record with Simon and James under their early guise of "Klaxons (Not Centaurs)" James Righton, like Simon, grew up in Stratford-Upon-Avon, working every summer on the river cruise and hire boats in Stratford-upon-Avon. His interest in music was fueled by his musician father. After studying history and politics at Cardiff University , he spent some time in Madrid teaching English, and arrived back in the UK on the invitation of Simon to join the band as they needed another vocalist/instrumentalist. Alongside members of Pull Tiger Tail (whom they had shared a flat with in New Cross ) James and Simon had previously been in a band together called 'Hollywood is a Verb' which was very briefly active during the summer of 2004 . The lineup was recently bolstered with the addition of drummer Steffan Halperin (former drummer Finnigan Kidd left to focus on another band, Hatcham Social Angular/Merok/Modular Records (2006) Klaxons' debut single, " Gravity's Rainbow " was released on March 29 , 2006 on Angular Records . Only 500 copies were released, and all were printed on a 7" vinyl decorated by the band themselves. Radio 1's Steve Lamacq was the first DJ to play the band and band recorded a Maida Vale session for his show on the strength of 'Gravity's Rainbow'. The band's second single, " Atlantis To Interzone ", was released on June 12 of the same year. It was their first release for new label Merok and led to further coverage in the NME . The song enjoyed even more radio coverage including play from Zane Lowe and daytime BBC Radio 1 plays from disc jockey Jo Whiley , who repeatedly, and mistakenly, called the song "Atlantic To Interscope". Zane Lowe also wrongly credited the song as "Atlantis To Interscope".6. They released their first EP , '' Xan Valleys '' in the UK on October 16 , 2006 on Modular Recordings . Polydor Records (2006 - present) In 2006, the band signed to Polydor Records . Their first single for the label, " Magick ", was released on October 30 and reached #29 in the UK Top 40 the following week. In August of that year, Klaxons played at the Reading And Leeds festivals, playing in the Carling tent on each festival site. The Carling tent, at both festivals, is the smallest stage and as a result large numbers of people were forced to watch from outside the tent. Fans sounded "Klaxons!" and cheered loudly between songs, brandishing glowsticks, seemingly giving credit to the " New Rave " (see below) bandwagon label. This term was coined by Angular Records founder Joe Daniel and later used by NME to describe the burgeoning scene. Their debut album, titled '' Myths Of The Near Future '', was released on January 29 , 2007. It entered the UK Album Charts at #2, beaten only by Norah Jones 's album '' Not Too Late ''. The band have recently collaborated with The Chemical Brothers on the track "All Rights Reversed", taken from the duo's new album '' We Are The Night '' and have expressed on several occasions an interest in working with Dr. Dre or Snoop Dogg on their follow up album (plans for which have not yet been finalized). 'NEW RAVE' .]] See Also: New Rave HMV describes Klaxons as "acid-rave sci-fi punk-funk", while their MySpace page touts 'Psychedelic / Progressive / Pop'. However, they are one of the isolated acts being referred to as 'New Rave', a genre term coined by Angular Records founder Joe Daniel, who released the trio's first single. Though the band's sound is decidedly Art Rock , they draw upon some less common influences - notably the Rave culture of the 1990s, which they appropriate and redefine in a Post-modern fashion. Their influences are perhaps most represented in their Covers of rave hits "The Bouncer" by Kicks Like A Mule and " Not Over Yet " by Grace . Both tracks have since been released by the band, the first as part of a Double A-side with " Gravity's Rainbow " in March 2006 and the latter as a single on June 25 , 2007 titled " It's Not Over Yet ". While the band are consistently hailed as the defining act of the sparsely-populated New Rave movement, Klaxons have worked to avoid being typecast as champions of the disputed genre that may or may not exist. Even so, Klaxons member Jamie Reynolds expressed no regrets at the dubious honor, saying that "...it's great that it started as an in-joke and became a minor youth subculture"10 MUSICAL STYLE Klaxons' music is often supernatural and Magic-realist in theme, as shown in a number of song titles and lyrical content. Examples of this are "As Above, So Below" (favourite saying of Aleister Crowley ), "Atlantis to Interzone" (a William Burroughs reference), " Magick " (Crowley) and "Four Horsemen of 2012"/" Gravity's Rainbow " ( Thomas Pynchon references). The original name of Klaxons comes from a line in the art text, '' The Futurist Manifesto ''. "Forgotten Works" also contains references and lines from Richard Brautigan 's '' In Watermelon Sugar ''. DISCOGRAPHY Albums
EPs
Singles Contributions
Covers
Awards
REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS Interviews/Reviews
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