The Micro Band making big steps forward with ‘Tried to Kick It (But I Missed)’

[The Micro Band – ‘Tried to Kick It (But I Missed)’ artwork by Lucie Yavruturk and Daniel Crichton]

By Sandy Power

Micro sized Leith based record label New Teeth has been slowly building their presence over the past year. Founded by members of Edinburgh live music stalwarts The Micro Band, the label has thus far released music exclusively to download digitally on Bandcamp, in an ethical attempt to get our feet tapping to choice slices of music by Astroturf Inspector, EARfATHER and Maranta, as well as The Micro Band themselves.

In August, The Micro Band band put out their second single of the New Teeth era. The release encompassed title track ‘Tried to Kick It (But I Missed)’ as well as a litany of superb remixes and a celebratory music video, starring members of the band alongside friends, jiving along to the carnival-esque grooves of the single.

The original track utilises all the signature elements of the band; layered percussion and vocals, Alex Auldsmith’s idiosyncratic lyricism and vocal presence, Dan Crichton’s beautiful textural guitar and melody that lodges itself right between the ears to make you smile between them too. The track, written over lockdown, is a forward-looking celebration of a time when live music, whether club, concert hall or festival field, is a part of our lives once more. The music video echoes this sentiment, with the gradual build of music exposing a larger throng of dancing revellers, boogieing to The Micro Band’s rhythm.

The remixes are equally impressive. Maranta offer a synth laced, soulfully performed dance stomper, whilst EARfATHER’s produces a truly epic and hypnotic Jon Hopkin’s-esque slow build of an electronic banger. Movers International opt for a highly percussive and organically evolving approach, which marries synthetic sounds with effect treated samples from the original. Yoko Pwno retain the party atmosphere to close the collection, adding a punchier, more processed percussion and popping bass to the highly melodic and harmonic elements of the original.

This release highlights the ambition and vision of the label, as well as the astute creative decisions being made regarding artists who collaborate on their projects. The quality of each of the involved Edinburgh based artists’ output is impressive to say the least. Check out all New Teeth releases at https://themicroband.bandcamp.com/