Silvery - History

History

Early shows were theatrical affairs, featuring bubble machines, Victorian uniforms, sword fights and flowers, meaning the band became an oddity on the London circuit, gaining a cult following and attracting reviews in NME and invitations to play such prestigious venues as KOKO in Camden, and O2 Wireless festival in Hyde Park, London. In the Summer of 2007 the band were picked up by Blow Up Records.

Double A side debut single Horrors / Orders was a suitable statement of intent and the accompanying video gaining heavy rotation on MTV2 and in Topshop branches around the UK. Next single Devil In The Detail and the album Thunderer & Excelsior were released on the same day in August 2008, launched at an instore performance as part of the Rough Trade East record shop 1st Year anniversary. Devil In the Detail convincingly won a BBC 6Music Roundtable vote against The Streets and Katy Perry, and the station selected the album as Album Of The Day on 12 August. Positive reviews appeared in publications such as The Word, Q, Artrocker and Clash, who included a track on a covermounted CD with their Sept 2008 issue. Steve Lamacq championed the band, stating that they should’ve been nominated for that year’s Mercury Music Prize.

Following the release of the album, Silvery played a series of one off shows, most notably British Sea Power's Sing Ye From The Hillside festival at the legendary Tan Hill Inn, Yorkshire. The third single Action Force was made Lamacq's Single Of The Week on his BBC 6Music show and featured on Chris Evans' BBC Radio 2 Drivetime Juke Box Jury on 21 October 2008.

The band ended 2008 with a one off Christmas single, a cover of You Give A Little Love (by Paul Williams (songwriter) from the musical Bugsy Malone) voted Steve Lamacq's Rebel Playlist winner on his BBC 6Music show. and healthy showings of Thunderer & Excelsior in the Artrocker and Organ Top albums of 2008 lists.

The Nishikado EP was released in May 2009 (featuring a new mix of a track already picked up by several album reviews as the stand out) which went as high as number 11 on the Dutch free40 chart.

In July 2010 the band emerged with a live BBC 6Music radio session to promote their second album Railway Architecture, a track from which appeared on that month's Artrocker magazine 'The Sounds Of The Summer' covermounted CD'. The band contributed an exclusive cover version of a song by Cardiacs to a tribute album for Cardiacs mainman Tim Smith who had suffered a stroke in 2008. Spell With A Shell featured alongside tracks by XTC, Ultrasound (band), The Magic Numbers, and Oceansize. Eighth single Two Halves Of The Same Boy released on Valentine's Day 2011 was playlisted on BBC 6Music for 5 weeks at the start of the year as the band made a return to London's Koko venue for Club NME.