Who? Working For a Nuclear Free City began as a studio band in 1999 comprised of Phil Kay on production and keyboards and Gary McLure on guitar. In 2004, the band became a live entity with the addition of John Kay on drums and Ed Hulme on bass. Their U.S. debut, Businessmen & Ghosts, out now on Deaf Dumb and Blind Recordings, compiles their eponymous British debut with their Rocket EP and some odds and ends in to a sprawling double-disc set.

What's the Deal? Working For a Nuclear Free City is, frankly, the British Isles, or at least the last 40 odd years of its music. "Kingdom" drips and swirls like My Bloody Valentine, "Troubled Son" layers processed beats like Kasabian, "Sarah Dreams of Summer" sounds like slightly muffled Belle and Sebastian," and Eastern Beatles strings creep in to "Forever." There are other discernible influences here, too -- check out standout track "Fallout" if you want to know what the Beach Boys would have sounded like if they had been from a smoggy industrial city -- which isn't surprising considering the fact that the band lists over two hundred artists as "influences" on their MySpace page.

Fun Fact: Working For a Nuclear Free City is not a band of peaceniks, they'll have you know. To wit, a MySpace posting titled "ABOUT OUR NAME…" attempts to clear up any misconceptions about the Mancunian quartet's affinity for patchouli, pointing out that they took their name from a sign in their hometown."What gets my goat is people think we're peace loving hippies, which we sincerely are not," the post reads. "They read the name completely wrong. It should be read as 'In the Employment' of a Nuclear Free City, that city being Manchester. However, it's usually taken as 'Campaigning for a...' , which someone even but [sic] on a poster once - but spelt campaigning wrong. Dickhead. So we're not CND, hippy, lefty-types. I would be quite happy if they pushed the button. It would mean I wouldn't have to pay my £ 300 gas bill." 

Now Hear This:
Working For a Nuclear Free City – "All American Taste" DOWNLOAD MP3

On the Web:
Working For a Nuclear Free City at MySpace
workingforanuclearfreecity.com

Talk: Is Working For a Nuclear Free City working for you?