Battle
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Indie rock
Years active	2005 - Present
Label(s)	Transgressive Records
Website	Thisisbattle.com
Members
Jason Bavanandan Oliver Davies James Ellis Timothy Scudder

For the U.S. math rock band, see Battles (band).

Battle are a UK indie rock band. They came to some prominence with a sound consisting largely of post-punk, spatious guitar hooks and dance-orientated beats, and have been compared to The Cure, and New Order/Joy Division. Later recordings have grown increasingly organic and atmospheric and reveal a kinship with The Smiths, Remain in Light era Talking Heads and Arcade Fire. The name Battle can be seen as an incitement for the individual to fight for their passions. Many of Bavanandan's lyrics revolve around this central theme.

Band members

• Jason Bavanandan – Vocals, Guitar
• Oliver Davies – Drums
• James (Jamie) Ellis – Guitar
• Tim Scudder – Bass

History

Formation

Singer, Jason Bavanandan and guitarist, Jamie Ellis met at school in Lewisham, South London in the mid-nineties. Having completed school, they both enrolled at the University of Kent at Canterbury, with the intention of forming a band^[1]. The resulting band was Casper Jack. The music of Casper Jack was heavily informed by artists such as Paul Weller, Oasis and the Small Faces. When the group's original bassist left, Ellis was introduced to Tim Scudder, at which point the band's sound began to change. Influences such as The Strokes, Joy Division and Pixies began to inform the songwriting process. During this period, the band's keyboardist and drummer were dismissed. The next academic year saw drummer, Oliver Davies join the band. The band changed their name first to Morphic Fields, and later to Killing Moon, the opening song in the film Donnie Darko. The band later dropped the moniker when people increasingly (and mistakenly) assumed the influence of Echo And The Bunnymen.

Early Singles

Their first single, "Isabelle" was released on 24 April 2005 on Fierce Panda Records. Their next single, "Demons", was released on September 26 2005 by their permanent label, Transgressive Records and sold out its 1,500 copies in a day. After the free-download "Wicked Owl", the chart eligible "Tendency", reached no.37 in the UK charts. Next single "Children", was championed by Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe, and was 'hottest record in the world today' on his show.

Back to Earth - Mini-album

On 23 October 2006, Battle released the seven-track mini-album, Back to Earth, which featured new versions of "Wicked Owl" and "Tendency". The mini-album was critically acclaimed but not commercially successful. Several of the tracks were produced by Gareth Jones and originally intended for the band's full debut album. "I Never Stopped" and "Easy to Listen to" were produced by the band and Jeff Knowler in June 2006. "Beautiful Dynasty" was released as a vinyl only single in conjunction with Back to Earth. The running order was as follows:

1. Wicked Owl
2. Tendency
3. Beautiful Dynasty
4. One More Night
5. I Never Stopped
6. Isabelle
7. Easy to Listen to

Break the Banks

In June 2006 copies of the Gareth Jones sessions were leaked in plain black cases under the title Break the Banks. This was reputedly originally intended to be the band's debut album. The album was never released, though several tracks were included on Back to Earth. The band put the absence of a full-debut down to a marked improvement and prolificacy in their song-writing. A new album, also expected to be titled Break the Banks is now scheduled for release on September 3rd 2007. A single, 'The Longest Time" was released on July 2nd 2007. The majority of the new album was reputedly written in the six months preceding its recording.

Discography

Albums

• Back to Earth (October 23, 2006)
• Break the Banks (September 3, 2007)

Singles

• Isabelle/Feel the Same (April 24, 2005)
• Tendency (March 13, 2006)

• #37 (UK charts)

• Children (June 5, 2006)

Artwork

The cover art for Battle's first four singles was painted by Bavanandan's younger sister, Melissa.

Footnotes

External links

• Official Site
• Myspace Area
• TheMusicZine Interview
• Battle at Crossthepond
• Livejournal Community
• Battle photos by Ian Miller

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