Action Plan

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We interviewed Action Plan on our tenth show. Listen to it on our pop up player on right.






From: London, UK


Label: Modern Art


Singles:
He/Blood Brother (Modern Art), November 2006

Stendhal/ Beauty Scars (Young & Lost Club), 2005
(Watch the video below)

A couple of months back, the month club night (The Day the Air Turned Blue) run by one half of Action Plan, turned its first tidy profit. The profitable ten and twenty pound notes were naturally kept safe in a pint glass, and naturally left behind. Around that time, you would be forgiven for thinking such misfortune summer up Action Plan’s short career thus far. But one packed touring schedule, and an overdue second single release later, the tide seems to be turning for one of London’s most underrated bands.

Not that Action Plan are technically Londoners. Lead singer Niall Doherty, drummer Matt Glass, guitarist Ian McCullagh and bass player Chris White all growing up around the Chelmsford area of Essex. The origins of the band name tell you exactly what you need to know about Action Plan. Inspired by an And You’ll Know Us By The Trail Of Dead lyric, Action Plan the same no bullshit intricate rock ethic of their Texan heroes. Think Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth and basically anything bearing the words ‘early’, ‘90’s’ and ‘American’.

Yet herein lies the Action Plan conundrum. In this post-Pete/ Thamesbeat/ new rave London, it’s not exactly very cool for a band to sport their Billy Corgan adoration on their sleeves. And this perhaps explains why, despite having a live repertoire you could set even the least reliable watch by, Action Plan only have one limited release single to their name. The fact that ‘Stendhal/Beauty Scars’ was released on the brilliant Young and Lost Club gives an idea of its pedigree.

A week after entertaining the Crossthepond team in our North London studio, Action Plan confirmed that their next single ‘He’ would be released in November. A week later again, support slots with the “we’re not very cool, but we’ve got a hell of a susceptible audience” duo of Juliette Lewis and Jet were also pencilled in for the Autumn months. Things, whisper it now, are finally happening for Action Plan.

Sounds a bit like: Smashing Pumpkins, tick. Sonic Youth, tick, and You’ll Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, tick, tick, tick.

Like this, try this: Little Death

Video of Stendhal by Action Plan: