Bikini Body + Conscious Pilot

Bikini Body

When Bikini Body first forged post gutter skunk funk in the fires of Edinburgh’s musical underbelly back in 2019, little did they know of the power it would come to wield. Since then, they’ve played shows across the UK with the likes of Mdou Moctar, Pictish Trail, Deadletter, Los Bitchos and Pussy Riot; toured Scotland with The Bug Club; and chivvied up festival crowds, most recently headlining stages at Manchester Psych Fest and Kelburn Garden Party. Everywhere they’ve gone, Bikini Body have found the message of post gutter skunk funk has resonated, despite they themselves not quite knowing what it means.

Whatever it means, if you like the danceable punk of ESG, Viagra Boys, Squid and Liquid Liquid, vocals informed by the likes of the Slits, Bush Tetras and X Ray Spex, and an objectively ‘good’ time, then Bikini Body is for you. 

‘Weird Party’ is a collection of tried and tested post-funk punk tracks, each with a personality that evokes the oddballs and tearaways you met at that weird house party the other week. ‘Mr Tinnitus’ leads the record with disco doggerel and plenty of cowbell, signalling the desire to be dancier than post-punk and punkier than dance. Personal experience of disappointing encounters, chauvinist male stereotypes and gendered ideals pepper the remaining tracks without compromising the irresistible groove inherent to the Bikini Body sound. 

‘Weird Party’ is out now on Optimo Music Rocks, a new offshoot label from legendary Glasgow label Optimo Music.

Conscious Pilot

Featuring members of Cheap Teeth, Catholic Action and Big Girls Blouse, Conscious Pilot was birthed from a group's collective love of immersive soundscapes. 

The band recently peeked their head above water with debut EP ‘Epoxy Plains’, recorded by Matt Peel at the Nave in Leeds. These songs were written as an attempt to quench the inherent thirst for meaning. 

Whilst finding that quenching such a thirst is impossible, having hit the ground running with numerous tours and new material in the pipeline, Conscious Pilot currently find themselves not so parched.