Sweet Deals On Surgery have been making waves in the Manchester music scene as of late. Known as RobotAlien, AlecSplatt and TimbleDrumcakes, Manchester-based noise-pop scuzz punks don’t take themselves too seriously. Make no mistake though, their songs are well crafted, melodic, instantly catchy noise pop, with structures that veer a little from the norm. The band are set to release their album The Snake and The Snoozer Antipop Records on 2nd September. You can listen to Like, Constantly below.
I managed to catch up with the band about their upcoming release, fans, their name and more!
Are you looking forward to the release of The Snake And The Snoozer?
Very much so. It’s been a long time in the bag (we recorded it in January 2015) and we’re really happy that Antipop Records have offered to release it for us. Hopefully we can sell all the CDs and use the money to put it out on vinyl at some point too.
Is this any different to any of your other music?
Yeah it is. We all do our own things as well as SDOS. Alex is a songwriter as ALECSPLATT and also a drummer, Tim drums in a band called 1.21 Gigawatts who are a sort of shimmery indie rock vibe and I write songs and perform under the name RoBoTaLiEn which spans a mix of genres. Our little group seems to have evolved into a concise, sharp, bittersweet, noise-pop-thunder-punk power trio! Good for getting out any quarter life angst, especially live.
How did you guys come up with your name?
It is taken from a song by (now defunct) D.C band Burning Airlines (ex Jawbox). When I asked their frontman J. Robbins back in 2013 if he was OK with me using the name, he told me he’d actually stolen it from another band in the mid 90’s called Kerosene 454. So on that note he bequeathed the name to me. It’s kind of taken on a life of it’s own now though, rather than just a being a song name.
What’s it like being part of an up and coming band like yourselves?
Hah I’d say we we’re more ‘out and going’… I don’t know… that’s a weird question to answer really as we’ve all been making music for years now in something or another. It’s cool in the way that we’re getting a bit more noticed now and have people say nice things about us. It’s nice to have some fans who are really into it:)
What would you say to your fans that go to gigs and listen your music?
I know the market for music can feel overwhelming and utterly saturated at times, but A LOT of good music still exists. More so than ever. It’s just all much more fragmented than it was. Don’t stop wading through the pap to get the gems! I really appreciate that people get enjoyment out of our band as that’s what keep us going at the end of the day. We’ve played loads of great gigs and they’re made great mostly by the people there, so thanks!
What music inspires you guys?
We listen to a wide range of stuff from Bad Brains to Fela Kuti. Nirvana we’re the band that made me get a guitar. Recent bands I’d have to say Future Of The Left are an influence lyrically if not musically. There’s so much that our brains have soaked up over the years. It’s all in there somewhere!
We listen to a wide range of stuff from Bad Brains to Fela Kuti. Nirvana we’re the band that made me get a guitar. Recent bands I’d have to say Future Of The Left are an influence lyrically if not musically. There’s so much that our brains have soaked up over the years. It’s all in there somewhere!
Where would you like to see yourselves in 5 years time?
Sitting in an AA meeting with Uma Thurman. Or starting work on our 7 hour jazz-odyssey triple album 😉
Have you got any plans for a tour?
Sure have, here’s some dates that we’re playing soon (some of the early September ones may change, but this is what we know so far.)
5th Aug – Minster Hall, Lichfield
14th Aug – YR WELCOME Festival, Birmingham
2nd Sept – (Album Launch) The Ferret, Preston
2nd Sept – (Album Launch) The Ferret, Preston
7th Sept – The Fulford Arms, York
8th Sept – TBA, London
9th Sept – TBA, Nottingham
10th Sept – Macguires, Liverpool
9th Sept – TBA, Nottingham
10th Sept – Macguires, Liverpool