Simon Reynolds once wrote, "Rock has never really made up its mind when it comes to the a-word."Neither has Edinburgh's FOUND, a band that delicately toes the line between pure pop and sheer experimentalism. Formed roughly five years ago at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen, FOUND is repainting pop music's borders with an artist's brush and palette.
Their performances push boundaries as well, combining the peculiarly conceptual with the sonically challenging. Back in February, the quartet took part in RSA's Body Parts festival. Slips of paper were passed out and those in attendance were instructed to make tiny airplanes. A laser beam was set up, stretching across the room, and the crowd was then asked to hurl their crudely folded dirigibles towards it. In the background, FOUND layered bass and keyboard lines, as well as a live air traffic control broadcast being manipulated by laptop. The result was described as "glitchy textures and menacing, semi-industrial grinding sounds."
"The experimental is what excites me," said band member Tommy Perman when talking about the group's vision, "but with a pop edge, some nice lyrics, a wee hook."
Check out some of their tracks here, including the latest single, "Mullokian," a folksy little number jazzed up with robotic beats. Also, the group released an album, Found Can Move, back on May 29.
