Enter Shikari (the name comes from a boat that belonged to singer Rou Reynolds uncle) formed in 2003 in the quaint and historical home counties town of St Albans, just near enough to London to know something exciting lurked beyond the horizon, but too far away to run headlong into it.They spent their formative years forging a sound that audaciously melded hardcore punk with hardcore rave/trance. And while media scenesters down the road were harping on about the fictional nu rave scene, Enter Shikari were out there doing something much more exciting. Something that hit a nerve. Remember those early shows? We do. We remember the sweat and the smiles, the laser beams and the elegiac choruses. We remember the blur of flashing Shikari cygnet rings as somersaulting fists pumped the air; we remember the surges of serotonin up the spine into the lower cortex. We remember looking at the crowds and thinking: holy shit this is a generational thing! We remember Tony Wilson telling Seymour Stein to check out Enter Shikari and we remember his reaction: Youre not a band – youre a revolution. And it was. And it still is. And then things got hectic. In summer 2006 Enter Shikari packed out the MySpace tent at Download festival on reputation alone, and by November of that year had become only the second ever unsigned band to sell out the London Astoria. Two sold nights at the Hammersmith Palais followed shortly afterwards.
This all happened away from the patronage of any of the big record labels. Enter Shikari did it themselves the old way. The DIY punk way. Which is why, despite plenty of offers, they decided to release their debut album ‘Take To The Skies’ on their own Ambush Reality imprint. When it cruised in at No. 4 it became one of the most successful self-released rock albums ever. Thats ever. Accolades came thick and fast: the NME John Peel Award for Innovation in 2007, Kerrang! Awards (including Best Live Band), with sales of their debut now pushing 250,000 worldwide and frankly silly statistics, like the one about their single Sorry, Youre Not A Winner having clocked up 6.3million plays on YouTube.
And so onto ‘Common Dreads’ then, an album whose politicised people power beginnings were inspired by the band joining fellow St Albans residents to fight against Tesco when the supermarket chain unveiled plans to build a big new store on a green patch of land. It was the first time we actively got involved in something like that, smiles Rou. And, collectively, we won. Musically, there are still twists of Refuseds screamo punk in there, but also the everyday colloquial man-in-the-street chats of The Streets Mike Skinner and nods towards The Prodigy, the most pumpin’ drum & bass, the most euphoric of trance, Altern-8 and even some of the darkest of dubstep too. More than anything though ‘Common Dreads’ is an album destined to unite the tribes, divide the critics and thoroughly satisfy anyone who has witnessed the mad live spectacle that is Enter Shikari. The main thing we stand for is unity, concludes Rou. Although its fair to say this is a political album, were aware that we dont want to preach ideas – our only solution to todays problems is to get together, share ideas and have fun. Because ultimately thats the Enter Shikari way. Youre only young once, so positivity during dark times is as important to us as anything else. Get on it.
