Where they are now: The Second Hand Marching Band

Play: A Dance to Half Death


One of the suggestions which arose in the comments thread that followed our first editorial 'the sharp end of the hatchet job' a couple of weeks ago was that it's fine to introduce new bands, but wouldn't it be better to have a status check further down the line to find out which stage of world domination they've actually reached.

With this in mind we thought it was a good time to report on the current success of The Second Hand Marching Band. Billy profiled the fluid 22-piece ensemble (comprised of members of bands like Danananaykroyd, How to Swim and Eagleowl) back at the beginning of April, paying hommage to their "swaying, earthy orchestration and climatic post-rock".

Now it seems like everyone's talking about them. Last night they performed a live session on Vic Galloway's BBC Introducing radio show which included a cover of the At the Drive-in song 'One Armed Scissor'. The collective are gaining a bit of a reputation for their discerning indie covers after performing a version of 'Atlas' by Battles at the All Tomorrow's Parties film premiere in Edinburgh last month.

They have now sold all 150 copies of their excellent debut EP A Dance to Half Death, so the generous souls are giving it away as a free download.

You can watch the full spectacle of The Second Hand Marching Band live at the 13th Note, Glasgow this Saturday (15 Aug) and keep up-to-date with all their movements via Twitter.

World domination score: 5.5

Words: Nick Mitchell

Play: TSHMB - We Walk in the Room


Debate: tell us what you think of one of Scotland's biggest bands below...