18 Neon-Clad New Rave Bands You’d Forgotten About

1
Shitdisco

Shitdisco formed in 2003 while studying at the Glasgow School of Art and four years later released their debut record ‘Kingdom of Fear’, named after the Hunter Thompson memoir.

2
New Young Pony Club

New Young Pony Club were one of new rave’s most successful acts, and have put out a further two more records since their 2007 debut ‘Fantastic Playroom’. ‘Ice Cream’ remains a massive tune to this day.

3
Hadouken!

Hadouken!

Hadouken! are named after a type of attack from the ‘Street Fighter’ games, which for younger readers was something people used to play before they invented ‘Call of Duty’. Their debut 2008 album ‘Music for an Accelerated Culture’ riffed on the title of a Douglas Coupland novel and the cover was exactly as neon as you’d expect.

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4
Late of the Pier

Late of the Pier

Late of the Pier proved that new rave wasn’t just a London concern, hailing as they did from Castle Donington. Their sole release remains 2008 debut ‘Fantasy Black Channel’.

5
Simian Mobile Disco

Ok, so Simian Mobile Disco may have outgrown new rave, and James Ford may now be better known as the man behind the desk for Arctic Monkeys’ ‘AM’, but back in 2007 he was producing Klaxon’s all-conquering ‘Myths of the Near Future’ and SMD’s own ‘Attack Decay Sustain Release’. Ravey.

6
!!!

In fairness to !!!, or shall we say Chk Chk Chk, they’ve been knocking around since 1996, which may explain their totally un-Googleable choice of name. Still, they certainly achieved an uptick in interest when their sound coincided with the burgeoning new rave scene.

7
CSS

Once upon a time, the fact that Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS) frontwoman Lovefoxxx was dating Klaxons’ Simon Taylor-Davis made them musical royalty, very much the Kim’n’Kanye of the mid-Naughties. That time may have passed, but CSS’ Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death from Above’ is still an absolute banger.

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8
The Sunshine Underground

The Sunshine Underground

The Sunshine Underground’s 2006 debut ‘Raise The Alarm’ was a key mainstay of the early new-rave scene. The Leeds-based three piece have released a further two albums since then, including a self-titled record earlier this year.

9
Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Armed with perhaps the most perfect new rave name of all, Does It Offend You, Yeah? also had help from Death From Above 1979’s Sebastien Grainger on their 2008 debut ‘You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into’.

10
Test Icicles

Test Icicles

Were Test Icicles new rave? It’s probably more accurate to just label them ‘unclassifiable’, but their 2005 debut ‘For Screening Purposes Only’ certainly set the tone for the new scene, as well as introducing the world to a young Dev Hynes and Rory Attwell, who would later produce Palma Violets’ ‘180’.

11
Dead Disco

Dead Disco

Leeds-based Dead Disco released four new rave singles between 2005 and 2007, before singer Victoria Hesketh reinvented herself as Little Boots.

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12
Fenech-Soler

Fenech-Soler

Fenech-Soler formed in that hot hot summer of 2006, although their new rave-indebted self-titled debut didn’t arrive until 2010.

13
Crystal Castles

Arguably not a new rave band in the strictest sense, nevertheless Canadian dance-punks Crystal Castles tied themselves to the scene by remixing the likes of Klaxons’ ‘Atlantis to Interzone’.

14
Uffie

Uffie may have hailed from Miami, via Paris, and been mates with everyone from Pharrell to the Ed Banger records crew, but there was still something resolutely ‘new rave’ about her 2010 record ‘Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans’.

15
Datarock

Datarock

Datarock, in this duo’s native Norwegian meaning ‘computer’, were another mild new rave ’00s success story, famous for their trademark red tracksuits as much as their dancey synth-led explosions of sound.

16
Digitalism

Digitalism

Germans Digitalism remixed Klaxons a few times en route to fame as makers of powerful robotic kraut-house, becoming another new rave-associated act in the process. They’re still going, now in their 10th year as a band.

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