Cut Off Your Hands
Cut Off Your Hands have announced the Happy As Can Be EP, due out on 20th October on sixsevenine. This new EP follows Expectations, the single released early September, which featured as the Australian iTunes single of the week at the beginning of the month. It is currently the second biggest download in iTunes history for ‘Single of the Week’. Their much anticipated debut album ‘You and I’- produced by Bernard Butler (Manic Street Preachers, Suede, Libertines, Duffy), is set to be released on sixsevenine in early 2009.
Showing their optimistic and uplifting side, Happy As Can Be is a carousel of layered melodies and rhyming couplets; lead singer Nick’s passionate singing of Last night I told a thousand lies to you/ into your arms I swore that I loved you soars over the band’s pounding drums. Cut Off Your Hands are a band known for their signature pop hooks, sparkling heartfelt lyrics and most especially, their electric live shows. Nick is an energetic and entertaining frontman, who comes to life on the stage, jumping around like a wild animal, gaining a few bruises along the way in the spirit of rock and roll.
The band are fresh from being nominated for a "Breakthrough Artist Of The Year†award at the 2008 Vodafone New Zealand music awards. Taking place in October, this annual awards ceremony is the New Zealand equivalent of The Brits and it will be the first time Cut Off Your Hands have received a nomination; they are up against two other acts including Flight of the Conchords. The ceremony takes place on the eve of their debut album release in New Zealand and Australia on October 6th. After performing at the awards in New Zealand, the band will return to the UK to resume their current tour as part of the "Freshers" tour.
In their short time on both record and stage, Cut Off Your Hands have created a slew of melodic and downright memorable music. From the romantic naivety of ‘Oh Girl’ and ‘Happy As Can Be’, to the speeding, hyper-love balladry of the pop-paean ‘Still Fond’, the four-piece have shown they’ve got what it takes to grab the world by it’s collective scruff and shake them into spinning, lovesick action. Not so sweet as perhaps their lyrics might suggest, (lyrics which should be heard with a heavy dose of irony) Cut off Your Hands live show should come with a health and safety warning.
Bloggers recently hyped up the band’s brilliant lo-fi covers of The Sonics, Split Ends, and The Buzzcocks which are doing the rounds, some of which have provided extra sparkle in the band’s sizzling live show. The band count old tour mates Foals, and Les Savy Fav amongst their huge fan base. Cut Off Your Hands have been touring persistently for the past six months; having left their native New Zealand shores in pursuit of bigger stages, they recently joined The Black Kids and The Wombats on their prospective UK tours whilst playing numerous UK festival stages.
The debut album is set for release in 2009.
Current Uni Freshers Tour:
September
29 Leeds Uni
30 Warwick Uni
October
2 Manchester Met Uni
4 Stafford Uni
13 Southampton Uni
15 Plymouth Uni
16 Bournemouth Uni
17 Kent Uni, Canterbury