History Ultraxine

"dirty mouthed punk rock with a huge dollop of sweet stuff"

Ultraxine doesn't do anything by the book. To this Brit-based trio, there is no book. There's a movie, screening in their heads on a loop, telling the story of their lives via the medium of 'xine'.

The Made-Up Dictionary of Rock tells us that the word 'xine' encompasses "joyful, power-pop-punk-rock, tea-drinking, and most importantly having a laugh with your mates whilst rocking out". But for Kate and Taz a standard level of xine is far from adequate. Instead, they must Ultraxine, which is how they got their name. They must drink more tea than was previously thought possible, laugh insanely with strangers while rocking out in the street and play the most wonderful, catchy, melodic power-pop-punk-rock ever heard by human ears. Or any other ears.

Suddenly it all makes sense, right?

Not to everyone. There was a band in Flint, Michigan, called Hyperxine who just couldn't cut the mustard. It all got too much for them, and they're currently gibbering in a tea-addiction rehab facility.

But there's more to Ultraxine than hot drinks and quirky fun.

First off, there's the fact that the 2 girls and one guy live in separate cities (Leeds, Manchester and London), and therefore must show the utmost dedication to their cause in order to simply exist. Secondly, when playing a full electric set their drum stool is variously filled by a mancunian, a hungarian and a variety of drummers in all shapes and sizes in between. Other than that, they can be found playing the punkiest, poppiest acoustic rock set you'll ever catch.

Ultraxine's debut album, Taking Sweets from Strangers was recorded in under a year and was completely self-funded. This is a band that is fiercely proud of their DIY ethics. Still, they couldn't do everything by themselves, so they roped in a guru in the shape of GMT / Gillan / Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Bernie Tormè (yes, THAT Bernie Tormè), who would handle production and engineering duties.

The hook-ridden threesome lists their influences as "The Wildhearts, GMT, Ramones, Abba, Silver Sun, Cheap Trick, The Sweet, Devin Townsend and The Beach Boys". If it has sunshine-y melodies and / or sweet harmonies, it had an impact. And let's face it; all of those bands have xine-d at one time or another.

The band released a new EP, "Danger of Death" in December 2010, and they are currently on tour in 2011 to promote it. Catch them at a toilet near you, and offer them a teabag instead of a beer. They'll love you forever.

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