Bishop Auckland band launch new album

CIRCUIT 68 are an ambitious North-East band with big ideas. Next month (February) sees their new album The Last Of The Wild Bunch released nationwide.

Coming a full five years after their impressive debut Eleven, the new 12-track recording is an eclectic and electric mix of styles built around a rock-solid core of highly skilled musicianship and nagging melodies. Rock, rhythm and blues, soul, country, punky new wave and pop all rub shoulders in a heady, intoxicating brew.

The entire band hail from the Bishop Auckland area and include Gary Miller, Neil Colwell, Joe Miller, Chris Meads, Darren Johnson, Anthony Turner, Gary Minns. Singer/guitarist Gary Miller says their home town's economic struggles provided plenty of lyrical inspiration. “The backdrop to the album is the story of a community living in a South West Durham mining village from the 1960s to the 1980s, enduring pit closure, property demolition and social abandonment, yet remaining proudly committed to the place they call home. Last Of The Wild Bunch is a love letter to optimism against the odds, fortitude through family and friendship, and how the survival spirit can be strengthened by the 45rpm single,” he says.

The band spent last year playing the length and breadth of the country to a growing fanbase. They have supported several established acts including Status Quo, the Jam's Bruce Foxton and The Farm, and a respected magazine described Circuit 68 as having the excitement of "The Beatles and Sex Pistols rocking out in Brian Wilson’s sandbox".

To download The Last Of The Wild Bunch or for more information on the band, visit circuit68.com

Phil Tallentire