Artist description Ambient psycadelic guitars in a bit of an early-Verve styley

Music Style Post Rock

Musical Influences Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Radiohead, Super Furry Animals

Similar Artists Spiritualized, Sigur Ros, The Verve

Artist History Most of Bifta Smoking Eskimos original hail from West Yorkshire (Birmy is of oriental origin) and formed 3 years ago. The band were originally a run of the mill local band playing covers and crap originals. This however changed!. After a expedition abroad the biftas thought process was changed forever. Rykyavik, Iceland is were this strange transformation happened after a twisted night of drinking. The Biftas stummbled upon a greenhouse surrounded in steam, local people said that plants were grown there using geothermal heat. The Biftas fancied some lava grown bannanas and proceeded to break in to the greenhouse. There upon the biftas were presented with rows and rows of geothermically grown icelandic supaskunk!. The Biftas recollection of what happened after that are rather hazy but what is known is that their outlook was dramatically changed that day and has never been the same since. The Biftas proceeded to write more songs in the six months after their expedition than in the previous two and a half years and also started encripting some of there songs in there very own code called Biflandic. With a new E.P coming out in August the Biftas seem to have only just begun their journey. DR A HOFFMAN

Group Members Daids - Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar. Gaz - Lead Guitar, Samples, Keyboards. Birmy - Bass, Vocals. Jimmy - Drums and Percussion.

Albums The Columbian Cold E.P, THe Dr Hoffman E.P

Press Reviews LEEDS MUSIC SCENE REVIEW OF THE COLUMBIAN COLD E.P We now have a scoop the NME would love to get their hands on, Richard Ashcroft formerly of The Verve and currently enjoying a bafflingly successful solo career has sneaked over to Huddersfield and recorded an EP in secret, working under the name Bifta Smoking Eskimos. Hell, he's even nicked some of his own melodies and guitar parts from those Verve songs that made them so recognisable! Ok so it isn't really true but BSE are doing one hell of an impersonation job, which is a shame, because these four songs are soaked in soul and heart felt guitar work which gives them enough to stand on their own with out the Ashcroft impressions. The two main highlights come in opener "One Good Blizzard" which cutely feels like you are joining it halfway through and the acoustic "Cold Streets" which recounts the distant feeling of too much excess in Amsterdam. Closer "Get 'in high" echoes about until it unexpectedly thumps you in the stomach with one hell of guitar riff! This is well played, sung, written and produced. The band want it and want you to want it, but those Verve comparisons won't go away and with peoples tendency to pigeon hole, they are in danger of haunting what is in fact a very decent offering. 4 out 5. Review written by Richard Garnett - February 2003

Location Batley, West Yorkshire - United Kingdom

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