When The Dead 60s burst onto the scene in 2005, with a debut album of spooky ska sound that they made their own, they were somewhat of an anomaly. They had nothing to do with the current fad for all things new wave, rejecting angular guitars in favour of super heavy reggae grooves, booming dub echoes and wired up punk energy. They were a band from Liverpool who sounded nothing like anything else Liverpool had produced before, who eschewed the tradition of their geographical contemporaries in favour of The Clash, King Tubby and The Specials. A band whose very name was a deliberate poke in the eye to anyone still slavishly following the trail laid out by the Beatles half a century ago. Signed to Scouser indie label Deltasonic (The Coral, The Zutons), and managed by US heavyweight Q prime (Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Metallica), The Dead 60s were a band more about rhythm and shouting than about melody. A band who could hard-wire the paranoid skank of A Certain Ratio, follow the tick-tick-tick/ At the heart of the nation, and deliver a pin-sharp commentary on the world around them in terms that lend themselves to being sprayed on the walls of any English city centre. Needless to say their arrival did not go unnoticed. Their eponymously titled debut album was critically acclaimed and certified gold, while their first single became the third most played song on US alternative radio in 2005 (behind Coldplay and White Stripes).

Claimed undoubtedly one of the best live groups in the UK, they drew in offers of tour support from the likes of Morrissey, The Stereophonics, Kasabian and The Libertines here and Garbage and The Bravery across the pond.

Film director John Hillcoat (who aside from working on a number of feature films has repeatedly worked with Nick Cave), asked to direct their first video, while the NME dubbed them The 21st century Specials marking them out as pioneers in the Ska revival scene of the summer of 2005.

Fast forward two years and The Dead 60s have swerved back to the pulsing guitar pop that is their real roots. Recorded not in Liverpool this time, but in New York based Noise Studio, and produced by producer-in-residence there David Kahne, (New Order, Regina Spektor, Fishbone, The Strokes), ‘Time To Take Sides’ is a move on from the nihilistic punk with an Arabian sounding Eastern disco edge of ‘The Dead 60s’.

The songs, like those on the first album, were worked out on stage. This time though the stages were American rather than UK, and it would appear from the melody that has crept into the new songs that the crowd there wanted more than just a vibe.

Where once was just lyrics and beats there now are chords. What once sounded so tightly cropped now comes from a wider angle.

After a year of touring the first album we wanted to capture the energy and directness of the live performance. We just wanted to get back and write direct and honest songs about the things we’ve been through

The result? A big, bold rock sound that can and will fill stadiums with tight and linear songs that sing of the Saturday night, Sunday morning culture of everyday British life with a tough, street pop that tells the truth.

This is the sound of the real Britain- the concrete Britain of late nights, cheap drugs, crap fags and stale beer in plastic glasses, it’s the sound of frustration and hangovers but played out in the psychodrama of guitar pop, one of the last places where there is any freedom.

The Dead 60s sing of this frustration and resentment but with such passion and inventiveness that they manage to turn the contents of yesterday’s post Blair chip paper into a series of inspiring pop anthems.

From the sweatshod dancehalls to the rebel stereo The Dead 60s are coming Armed with a fistful of anthems that are a visceral aural spray can of graffiti on a city centre wall, they are having a riot of their own. This is music you can dance to, that has a vision, an international, continental sound.

The Dead 60s will release their single ‘Stand Up’ on 9th September digitally/10th September physically. Album ‘Time To Take Sides’ and Single ‘Start A War’ to follow in January 2008. Prior to release of ‘Stand Up’ The Dead 60s will be touring the UK. Dates as follows:

Monday 23rd Academy Birmingham Tuesday 24th July Marquee Hertford Wednesday 25th July Soul Tree Cambridge Thursday 26th July Charlotte Leicester Saturday 28th July The Social Nottingham Sunday 29th July Faversham Leeds Tuesday 31st July Leadmill Sheffield Thursday 2nd August Empire Middlesbrough Friday 3rd August Tunnels Aberdeen Saturday 4th August King Tuts Glasgow Sunday 5th August Cluny Newcastle Wednesday 8th August Roadhouse Manchester Thursday 9th August Dingwalls London Saturday 11th August Thekla Bristol Sunday 12th August Fez Reading Wednesday 15th August Academy 2 Liverpool Friday 17th August Club Nirvana Wigan Saturday 18th August York Fibbers York Sunday 19th August Pressure Point Brighton Wednesday 22nd August Joiners Southampton Friday 24th August Soundhaus Northampton Saturday 25th August Reading Festival Main Stage Sunday 26th August Leeds Festival Main Stage