SLOY : BIOGRAPHY

SLOY is a band from Rennes (FRANCE) which started in 1992. After their impressive performance at the Transmusicales festival in 1994, the whole of the music Press was very enthusiastic about them and their encounter with the independant label Rosebud gives the opportunity to release "Fuse" , their first E.P.

They recorded their first LP, "Plug", in February 1995 with Steve Albini. The result was an album reflecting their own image : Powerful and genuine. SLOY having decided to part with Rosebud, Roadrunner released the LP in France, Belgium and Holland. After hearing "Fuse", John Peel decided to invite SLOY to record a session for his famous show on Radio 1, and in the same week, Albini asked them to support his own band, Shellac, at London Grand. Just like the rest of the audience there, PJ Harvey was captivated and asked them to play as support to her own show at the "Forum" in London. Roadrunner UK then decided to release "Plug" in Great Britain in November of the same year.

SLOY then went on tour for a month around Europe and played a few Summer festivals, including the Dour festival in Belgium and the Popkomm in Germany. The power of the band on stage increased with every show and the audience never failed to be impressed. After a promotion period in France that included several live national TV performances, SLOY went back on the road. They played a few gigs with Kepone in the UK, with PJ Harvey(who , impressed, invited them again) in FRANCE and with the Skippies in Belgium and Holland. This tour gave them the opportunity to play a series of live sessions for Dutch radio stations (VPRO in Amsterdam) and Belgian TV. The opinion was unanimous among those witnessing one of band's shows. The Melody Maker, summing up the general impression, said about Armand : "He is the first frontman I've seen in too long who doesn't just demand attention but requires concentraion".

Th LP was released in the UK and received a very good response from the press. The Melody Maker enthused about SLOY's own personnal kind of hardcore, finding it "all quite jaw-droppingly funky". The NME, impressed by the band's powerful rhythms, remarked that "the drum & bass section outguns Rage against the machine". Metal Hammer insisted that lead singer Armand "wails and screams his way through Plug with all the conviction of the Devil himself".

In January, February and March 1996, SLOY cut themselves off from the rest of the world to write "Planet of Tubes", their second LP. Meanwhile, their single "Pop" became a big hit in Belgium, where it was on every radio playlist and where the band was programmed as a headline for the biggest festivals(Dour, Zwendok Rock, Rudd Rock and Bult Rock).

At the end of the spring, SLOY went back to U.K. on tour with Ligament. By now they had their own audience in that country : most of the people that were at former gigs were seen back in the clubs for this tour.

Back from the UK, SLOY got ready to go and record "Planet of Tubes" at the end of June. Their LP has been released by PIAS in October, Germany being the new country where SLOY's records are going to be distributed.

Autumn 1998 : after a break during one year they are back with a new album Electrelite and they were on tour in november of this year. SLOY was the support of PLACEBO on some few dates also during this tour called "Music for the electric in...."