The Dirty Skirts have always had clear intentions as to where they were headed: to rise to the top of the South African music scene, and to take their music to the world. Driven by the awareness that it must be possible to reverse the tide of American/UK musical imports that washes through South Africa year to year, they’re on a mission to sell those pesky colonial powers something new, something very Cape Town. It’s been, and continues to be a hero’s journey conducted in their inimitable style. For four years they remained independent of the South African music industry… unsigned, unmanaged, maybe unmanageable. However 2008 saw the band sign their colossal new album Daddy Don’t Disco to SONY BMG South Africa. "DADDY DON’T DISCO is undoubtedly one of the most progressive records to emerge from South Africa”- Paul Thackwray, Senior Label Manager, Sony/BMG. A few months into the relationship the Dirty Skirts reverted to their independent status. The Dirty Skirts formed in Cape Town after a fortuitous braai-side meeting between Jess and David; a meeting of compatible hard working dreamers. They immediately set out to etch the band onto South Africa’s musical Hall of Fame by independently recording and releasing their eponymous debut mini-album in 2005. Singles such as “Feeling the Pressure” and “Set Me Alight” scorched up the local and student charts. Their first full length debut album On A Stellar Bender followed in 2007, with the barnstorming single “Homewrecker” reaching 1 on a number of national radio charts. In late 2007 they began writing the follow up album Daddy Don’t Disco, which was released on the 27th of June 2008. As with most bands, The Dirty Skirts are not fans of pigeon-holing their music (“we’re not pigeons”), but their sound is steeped in an alternative rock tradition stretching back some fourty odd years. Think Pink Floyd, David Bowie, John Lennon, Talking Heads, The Pixies, Jane’s Addiction, The Cure and many more. Featuring Jess de Tolly on lead vocals, synthesisers and guitar, David Moffatt on lead guitar, Passion Paliaga on bass and Markie de Menezes on drums, theirs is a mixture of alt pop, punk and rock – with a solid dose of electronica thrown in for good measure. The Dirty Skirts are clearly not scared of hooks, quirk, humour, and riffs, all of which are belted out over their soaring melodies. One writer once described their music as “the sweetest kick in the hind quarters you ever had”. An essential part of The Dirty Skirts experience is their live performance. They are an astonishing proposition on stage, a heady combination of effervescent joy, humour, passion and raw animal power. They favour a punchy, “nose bleed set”, with improvised jams interspersed between their material. The result? They fill the largest and best clubs in South Africa, they have headlined every main stage of the country’s top festivals; they’ve successfully taken their music to the UK and the US (including performing at the SXSW festival in Austin), not to mention a spotlights worth of media attention. ON A STELLAR BENDER Upwardly mobile Mother City quartet the Dirty Skirts carve open a niche for themselves somewhere between Bloc Party’s existential post-punk and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s decadent indie dance floor renovations on this insidiously addictive confession session. While hyper-kinetic guitar anthems about partying too hard (“Too Many Parties”), chasing too many skirts (“Tune In”) and trying to survive Cape Town’s cliquey club culture (“Is this It?) will free your ass on the dance floor, more inquisitive interrogations of life, love and the search for meaning beyond seasonal hip sales pitches (“Spirit Is the New Black”) make the Dirty Skirts something of a rarity: an indie rock band with the substance to match their style.