Miniature Dinosaurs
Lemonade is the first single to be taken from the forthcoming 'Turn It On' EP by Stirling's Miniature Dinosaurs and their first release since signing for UK label Integrity Records.
With airplay on BBC Radio 1 three months before their first gig, these four young Scots have generated a swell of interest in their home territory. UK-wide live dates and support slots with Fenech-Soler, Young the Giant, Twin Atlantic and Johnny Foreigner have helped build a steady following.
Additional online support and extensive radio play have galvanised the band as ones to watch, with critics such as Ally McCrae (BBC Radio 1) noting that the band "harp back to the likes of Orange Juice and Fire Engines, mixed with some straight up pop".
Bassist and lyric writer Alban Dickson says: "All the elements of a disastrous teen fling are still there, only the setting has changed to the academic factory.
"After seminar upon seminar of awkward - and full Harvard referenced - flirting, the perseverance eventually pays off; only setting him up for the ultimate mistake - ordering a soft drink on the date. The designated driver is just never cool."
2011 saw a release for the band through Electric Honey, the "most successful college label in the world" that kick-started the careers of Belle & Sebastian, Snow Patrol and Biffy Clyro, and a number of syncs in the MTV drama ‘Being Victor’.
2012 also started well with Miniature Dinosaurs nominated as 'Best Live Act' at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards and inking a deal with Integrity Records, the independent label notable for signing bands such as Miss Black America, Plutonik, Reuben and Million Dead, whose vocalist Frank Turner went on to forge a successful solo career.
John Peel was a great supporter of the label and played the vast majority of their releases on his BBC Radio 1 show. In 2002, no less than 5 Integrity releases proudly appeared in Peel’s annual Festive Fifty.
In recent years, Integrity has also been the UK home for American artists such as ex-Babes In Toyland Kat Bjelland's Katastrophy Wife, Hollywood found-sound dreamsters Meow Meow and Nashville-based duo Travis+Julie but the label's long-term ethos of supporting home-grown talent remains strong, with the likes of Birmingham dream-indie duo Pet Dog Storm and now Miniature Dinosaurs on their roster.
Miniature Dinosaurs play the Wickerman Festival on 20th July followed by a UK tour in the autumn in support of their full EP release due later this year.