Welcome to the EDUCATION band website! Here for myspace but we'll only be your friend if you have a bad picture of yourself or look miserable. No foxy looks please ladies, we can't cope.

15 May 2007

So, we're not doing a single anymore but recording our debut album. Considering the last single took 6 months this might be cause for concern. However 3 weeks after recording drums we have Beckon Me and Cottage Burners ready to mix, so it should be done in less than 6 months and we're gonna put tracks online as they're mixed.

6 Feb 2007

Education are gearing up for the recording of new single 'Put Your Phone Down'. Like a rocket granade targeted at Jo Whiley's head.

28 Nov

Education session for BBC Raw Talent. Listen here.

22 Nov

Education played on Radio 1.

9 Oct

Vic Galloway plays 'Cool As You' on his BBC Scotland show and invites Education up for a session to coincide with some gigs North of the border. Plus BBC Radio Raw Talent acoustic session is confirmed for November 26th. AND Education to support The Lodger, who are nearly as good as us, at the Graham Chalmers 'Charmed' night xmas party in Harrogate. Education are on the up, and we are giddy kippers.

8 Sept

As the nation looks wistfully towards winter the Education camp is a positive hive of activity.

Following a summer of sunburn, traction kites and festival mud our hotly anticipated AA single is ready to run. Taped, mixed, mastered, printed and banged into envelopes for those of you lucky enough to be on our mailing list. 'The Call's' reign as top dogs in Ripon is about to be brought to an abrupt halt, and that's a battle worth having.

On other business- November should see a mini tour of the North East and we have 5 (FIVE) rocking new songs simmering in the pot ready to serve up on this soon to be legendary outing. Should the secret service be hot on our tails for crimes committed in the promotion of our new single they will have no chance as soon Oli Smith will be acquiring a white, stretch......FORD GRANADA!!!! (all from his own money)

Bye for now

These are demos!!!! Not the single, demos. That's right, demos.

Click links to listen OR right click on link and select 'Save Target As...' to save file to your machine.

Are You Educated? (demo)

You Fancy More (demo)

Education can be contacted on info@areyoueducated.com

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Extracts from our first online single reviews, check review section for more.

"Frankly you need this and with that I've a sneaking feeling that this lot may well be worth keeping tabs on over the coming months."

www.losingtoday.com

"Lyrical witticisms and hummable tunes maketh Northern music. Watch out for Education - this is a bright and infectious record that fits into the now without necessarily borrowing too much from anyone."

www.manchestermusic.co.uk

"My fave guitar record of the day."

www.ireallylovemusic.co.uk

"It's nice to hear a single that immediately serves to ignite the soul and send you rushing to the 'Repeat' button."

www.atomicduster.com

"The real gem here is Charles."

Graham Chalmers, Harrogate Advertiser

Check out myspace for a more reliable insight into Education's live exploits.

Creativity. That old chestnut. Are you stuck in a incompetent rutt?

Brian Eno in the 70s or whatever realised that if he was to fake it in the studio he would have to develop some defence mechanism to get him out of tight spots - you know the ones - someone is about the find you out as a talentless fraud and you have the cheek to be charging £2000 a track for your services. We've all been there.

As a response to his increasingly frequent panic attacks, palputations and sweaty patches he wrote a series of 500 flash cards. The idea was that if you started to feel vulnerable/useless during a session you would read the contents of one of the cards picked at random. On the card would be a message which if acted upon would either divert attention away from oneself, or perhaps provide you with the 'creative vision' to plough on. That's the idea anyway.

I found them invaluable in hoodwinking Education into thinking that I was the right man to produce their debut single - anyway here's the link to the strategies. Be warned, this is high brow stuff!

Education's debut double A single is finally available for you all to hear and download for free! Blimey.

Just provide us with a VALID email address below please, which we won't abuse.

Email address

Single Reviews

North Yorkshire-based Education’s latest demo arrived with a note attached saying it was recorded in various 'farm sheds and home offices/living rooms'. It doesn’t show. Masters of economically executed, original punk-pop gems with clever, caustic lyrics, both new tracks show a slight shift away from punk aggression and Wedding Present depression to smoother Teenage Fanclub-like indie-pop. Beckon Me with its infectious 'this one, has never been out before' refrain has that uplifting gliding momentum of the Fanclub wedded to the occasional slash and klang Rickenbacker guitar chords patented all those years ago by The Who. The provocative Cottage Burners is melodically less memorable but boasts an amazing set of lyrics deftly delivered, as always, by playful lead singer Christopher 'Chrissie' Taylor with butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-his-mouth choirboy cheek. 'All North Yorkshire belongs to me - every field and every tree', he sings before launching into a deliciously dry tirade about about the area being invaded by 'middle class trash'. More than a left-winger’s outbreak of class grumpiness, the genius of the track comes in its most repeated line. 'The sun comes streaming through the clouds', he sings in a matter of fact style over and over, conjuring up a picture of the county’s natural beauty, lifting the song and lending the whole thing a broader human perspective rather than just a one-dimensional political one. And it’s funny. Great band.

Reviewed by: Graham Chalmers, Harrogate Advertiser Gig Scene

A RATTLING but quietly sophisticated punk band from the Northallerton area with one foot in the past and one in the present, Education excel at upbeat gems of witty, intelligent lyrics and small musical hooks used with minimal fuss and maximum effect In saying that, Cool As You, the catchy, fast-paced opening track on their double AA side CD (ah - the days of vinyl), appears to have grown an extra section of sound effects and silly dialogue since it appeared on demo earlier in the year, presumably to extend what was a strong but oh so brief number the Buzzcocks at their peak might have recorded as a b-side in 1977-78. The real gem here is Charles, a boldly executed dig at The Prince of Wales with irresistible sub-Morrissey butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth vocals by Christopher 'Chrissie' Taylor, great guitar work and striking changes of pace and style. Showing the confidence to spin out every word and guitar line way beyond most bands’ safety zone, Education ram their message home with tongues firmly in cheek and in doing so equal anything achieved to date by, say, NME faves The Rakes.

Reviewed by: Graham Chalmers, Harrogate Advertiser Gig Scene

We are loving this - indeed we are - oh yes. 'Cool as you'/'Charles' makes for a damn fine debut - the former getting right under your skin from the word go and dispatched with a breathlessly edgy spiked Mod-tastic like zeal. Packed to the rafters with razor sharp riffs that jab and sting this cute nugget could easily be a distant rough around the edges half cousin of Supergrass replete with bashed and bruised Monkess (in this case the Monkees from the wrong side of the street) harmonies hammering their way through a rollicking homage to the Small Faces growing pains canon. Factor in a vocal that sounds like a less world weary Morrissey having his DNA tweaked and twisted with David Gedge and you have yourself a little stripped and ready for action nugget that'll nag, nag, nag until your driven to the point of distraction - oh yeah and it's damn cool to. Flip over for the ode to the poor hapless Charles - the Charles in question being his right royal nerd-ness. Echoing the sentiment found on the Smiths 'Queen is Dead' and in some ways more scathing in its scorn for the flower talking one it strangely takes in its stride another old Smiths gem 'William it was really nothing' and though removed of Marr's silken needlework it sounds suspiciously like a spiteful Gene. Nibbling away at the essence of the Beatles' 'Nowhere Man' it portrays Charles in the role of a non person whilst suitably braiding the tale with a superbly blanked melody. Frankly you need this and with that I've a sneaking feeling that this lot may well be worth keeping tabs on over the coming months.

Reviewed by: www.losingtoday.com

If you agree that back-combing your hair and embarking on a musical career based around mockney Pearly King songs - set to the jumbled jangle of not very well played and often out of tune guitars - is the way down south .... then the North, it could be argued, has the right to sing in cloth capped accents. Cue Education. Leeds based, proudly grinding their guitars in an indie-cum-new-wave manner.'Cool As You' is the sound of the rainy streets of Yorkshire, lit by tales of what really happened to someone (maybe even you) the other day. Thankfully they don’t rely on the 'sound of Sheffield'. Instead think The Smiths, Wedding Present (of course) and Lamacqs current playlist. An even better track - and just plainly dead dry funny - is 'Charles'. Lyrical witticisms and hummable tunes maketh Northern music. Watch out for Education - this is a bright and infectious record that fits into the now without necessarily borrowing too much from anyone.

Reviewed by: www.manchestermusic.co.uk

The pile of singles looks at me lost and forgotten but when a band send me a nice picture postcard from Thirsk along with their double a-side cd i cannot help but do the honourable thing. 2 cracking tracks recall the best guitar pop from The Wedding Present, Undertones and the Buzzcocks, but rather than having a skinny voice, Education have found a singer whose vocals resonate big and proud matching the chunky old school indie rock in a fine tune. Well worth tracking down just for the royal family baiting lyrical content. My fave guitar record of the day.

Reviewed by: www.ireallylovemusic.co.uk

OLD-FASHIONED punk never seemed cuter than in the hands of this tight and tasteful North Yorkshire-based band. The instrumental backing may rattle along like the early Who covering The Buzzcocks but the emphasis is on understated pop hooks and witty lyrics rather than bludgeoning the listener. The icing on the cake is provided by the vocal delivery. While the rest of this four-piece band beaver away, lead singer Christopher 'Chrissie' Taylor sounds admirably nonchalent. Sharing the dead-pan cadences of the Wedding Presents’ David Gedge, it’s all a bit more playful and humourous with a good feel for exactly when to throw in those little 'woahs', 'woohs' and 'la la las'.

Reviewed by: Graham Chalmers, Harrogate Advertiser Gig Scene

Mr Education, I fucking love your band. The demo is ace.

Reviewed by: Neil Hanson, singer with The Playmates

Demo Reviews

Power Pop Rock. With an English accent. I'm sold. Hook line & sinker. Very energetic - especially the Chorus - it has a killer hook. Love the lyrical subject matter as well. My only gripe here is the Production. With a crisper sound - this song would annihilate most listeners. Short, sweet and to the point. Bravo!

Reviewed by: CallerDrummer [garageband] from Lansing, Michigan

Even the somewhat limited mix/master can't hold down this frenetic Manchesterish rave up! Sardonic lyrics, blistering guitars, and even the slightly boomy drum mix all coalesce to deliver a red hot envelope containing the ice cold sarcasm of these cleverly crafted words. Although I began to have doubts during the somewhat crazed bridge-instrumental section, it went on just long enough to deviate slightly from the path of the song, and hopped right back on track for the final chorus only to end leaving all of us wanting a little more. Love it love it love it. I'd love to hear this song with a slightly better recording and mastering job. Wonderful writing and performance! It's the Smiths meets The MC5. Someone should sign these guys and get them into the studio.

Reviewed by: Dutch_Holly [garageband] from Prescott, Arizona

I imagine that this is what belle & sebastian may have sounded like before they became cool and got to record in a really real studio. the band is very solid. drums are great as are guitars. I can't hear too much of the bass, but I imagine that that is also on target. "I'm not as cool as you" is a pretty anthemic chorus too. its snappy, easy to remember, and very appealing to the indie set. I'd listen to this again, and if I were a big-time record exec with a penchant for catchy british stuff, I'd probably pick this up today.

Reviewed by: SnackWheat [garageband] from Richmond, Virginia

I really enjoyed the vocals for this song. I'm a sucker for British singers though. It reminds me of harder Belle and Sebastian, Bearsuit kind of. I really like the melody and the energy of the song, especially from the drums. It has a great structure to it and I would listen to this everyday if I had the chance. Really, really good stuff.

Reviewed by: SlowRelease [garageband] from Rochester, Syracuse, Queensbur, New York

When this song started out, I thought it was going to the Sex Pistols legacy replete with screamed lyrics and unintelligible refrains. Imagine my surprise when Morissey's influence came floating in over the frenetic punk rock rave-up to deliver the cleverly crafted lyrics. Outside of the somewhat limited production, which unintentionally lends a lo-fi artsy quality, this song nugget leaves the listener wanting more of both the hard-hitting punkthrash accompaniment and the cheeky sarcasm of the singer, overall, a winning combination.

Reviewed by: Dutch_Holly from Prescott, Arizona