Dawn Of The Replicants

Dawn Of The Replicants are a Scottish indie rock quintet from Galashiels, described by Allmusic as "one of the most inventive groups in the United Kingdom. Impossible to categorize". Four of the 1997 line-up (Pringle, Vickers, Simian and Small) had previously worked together on the short-lived Scottish music magazine, Sun Zoom Spark. Initially a duo (Vickers and Simian), the band released a mail-order EP, entitled So Far So Spitfire in December 1996. The band was expanded to a quintet and a second self-released single followed in the summer of 1997. They signed for East West Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records. Before the close of the year, a few more EPs followed, accolades from the NME, and The Times newspaper declared them the  'best new band of 1997'.

The 1998 single "Candlefire", taken from the debut album reached number 52 in the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up, "Hogwash Farm"(lead track of The Diesel Hands EP), peaked at number 65. That summer the band played both the Glastonbury and Reading Festivals. Their second album sold less well than its predecessor and Warner Bros. dropped the band. In 2000, Vickers and Simian released an album and two singles through Shifty Disco of electronica, under the name Pluto Monkey. After a break the band returned with a third album and a live tour in 2002. In 2005 the band played at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. In recent years they have also recorded sessions for Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 1 and Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music.

Links to Peel
Initially a duo (Vickers and Simian), the band released a mail-order EP, entitled So Far So Spitfire in December 1996, which John Peel and Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 1 DJs, gave the EP substantial airplay. Before his death, John Peel aired five sessions from the group, four as Dawn of the Replicants plus a one-off session which Vickers and Simian recorded as side project, Pluto Monkey. The band's single "Science Fiction Freak", taken from the second Replicants' album, made John Peel's 'Festive 50' in 1999.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * 1999 Festive Fifty: Science Fiction Freak #29

Sessions
Dawn Of The Replicants 1. Recorded: 1997-08-12. Broadcast: 03 September 1997 2. Recorded: 1998-04-28. Broadcast: 28 April 1998 3. Recorded: 1999-04-25. Broadcast: 25 April 1999 4. Recorded: 2002-10-17. Broadcast: 20 November 2002 Pluto Monkey
 * Lisa Box / Diggin' Bear / Fatal Firework / Leaving So Soon
 * Jack Fannings Gym / Sergeant Crowly / Skullcrusher / Windy Miller
 * Get A Bright Flame / Big Hefty Hounds / Candlefire / Fearless Vampire Hunters
 * Hollywood Hills / Rhinestone Cowboy / Rockefeller Center 1932 / Smoke Without Fire

1. Recorded: 2000-02-23. Broadcast: 23 February 2000
 * Joe Meek / A Quiet Life / Rice Cake Rabbit Soul / Ping Pong Sass

Other Shows Played
Dawn Of The Replicants Pluto Monkey
 * 1997
 * 1998
 * 1999
 * 2002
 * 1999
 * 2002
 * 2002
 * 2000