"This band have the magic touch - shimmy, shimmer, toneburst, humour, pathos, instrumental breaks to die for." - DrownedInSound.com "An eclectic, unique disc. While its mixed focus may be off-putting to closed-minded listeners, those willing to give something fresh and new a chance might be pleasantly surprised." - IndieVille.com "Give this blighter time (I’m on my 4th listen today) and it’ll reveal itself slowly as a full bright-blooming work of subtle invention and tasty surprises.... Clearly, this pony has several tricks up its sleeve." - Vanity Project fanzine Art Wave From Ilkeston Johnny Domino's "Solid Ground" is their fourth album of angular, literate, funky pop music in five years. Now that the mainstream music press is finally tuning in to these sounds and calling it "Art Wave" this could be the moment for the Midlands band to take their rightful place in the hearts of music fans. James Convery, Marc Elston and brothers Stephen and Giles Woodward spent 18 months holed up in their own studio in Ilkeston, in deepest Derbyshire, creating these 14 tracks which vary from the "sharp and driven, post-rock pop" (Vanity Project fanzine) of the title track to the "sea shanty-isms" of "I Heart 1883" and the "Joy Division meets Mario Bros electro" (Robots and Electronic Brains) of "Vocodamol". They've been influenced by the esoteric side of rock, including such bands as Can, Meat Puppets and Devo, but their relative seclusion and constant development of recording methods has led them to create a soulfully robotic sound that's all their own. This breakthrough on this album has been to capture the mechanical joy of their live shows on CD. On these rare excursions into the live arena, Johnny Domino have played with The Delgados, Servotron, Twinkie, and AAS label mates Frankie Machine and MJ Hibbett & The Validators, and have built up a following in Derby that leads to sell out shows whenever they deign to play. In between these outings Marc fronts his own band, the acclaimed Liberty Ship, whilst Stephen pops up on various recordings, most recently the latest Frankie Machine album. The band also has a very strong Internet presence. Their website, www.johnnydomino.com, gives fans regular updates on the recording process, as well as offering downloads of sneak previews of new material, and access to huge chunks of their back catalogue. Recently they released a free download-only album of early JD material, “The Best of the Shithouse Masters”, in association with Artists Against Success. As well as providing a group MP3 blog, “Domino Rally”, which showcases the band’s eclectic taste in music, they link to Jim's oddball journal "Welcome to Enlightenment", an alternative showcase for his brand of obscure yet heartfelt wordplay, and Giles' comic series "Glowing Slab". Giles' artwork has always decorated the band's releases, this time featuring an oil painting on the cover and a psychedelic foldout photomontage on the inside With lysergic grooves and oddball bravado, Johnny Domino is not the next Snow Patrol. But if you like angular tunes, danceable rhythms, and a stream of open-hearted lyricism, you'll love these guys. KEYWORDS : Analogue ; AngloEccentric ; Communication ; Dynamic ; Future ; Monkey ; Organic ; Propulsive ; Psychedelic ; Robotic ; Samples ; Synthetics.