"Batteries", the song is about the constant struggle to remain a cognisant, productive member of society while fending off the desire to switch off for an easier existence. This touches on the over-arching theme of the Batteries album - that batteries can be recharged or disposed of when empty, and the discovery of which kind of battery we all are. The music matches the paranoid confusion of the lyrics, a break-neck speed new-wave romp with nods to obvious influence Devo and lost 2000's great Clor, with a radio-ready catchy chorus. Alienation versus communication is the paradox at the heart of the song, but it's also adept at simply making people jump about and sing along.

Batteries

"Human Requirements" is a “thinly veiled political rant about the desperate inability of the electorate to fundamentally put collective welfare ahead of short-term selfishness. The "say-one-thing, vote-another" mentality that pervades and my frustration at conservative negativity. Somehow, it seems to have turned into a pop song with a skinny-tie sprightliness."

Human Requirements

Human Requirements (Glitterous Remix) [Clip]

Human Requirements (Skylab Remix)  [Clip]

Softhead [Clip]

Batteries (Push Button Monkeys Remix)[Clip]

Batteries (Sci-Fi's Brutalist Chic Remix)[Clip]

Cultural Ashtray [Clip]

Steven talks with Son of SLAM on Sine F.M 102.6.

www.sinefm.com/a_z_of_shows/son_of_s.l.a.m.

Batteries - Son of S.L.A.M. Radio Interview - 09/10/15

Steven Clark (a.k.a Sci-Fi Steven from disco/punk legends bis) returns with his one-man-band project Batteries and new single "The Fall-In-Love Club", a sprightly beast of short-sharp-punk-shock illustrating the potential horrors of the modern night on the town. Coming on like a lost New Wave 45, the lead single from second album "The Finishing Line" revels in the jerky rhythms of Bill Nelson's Red Noise, Cardiacs and early Blur with a shout-along chorus to match. Sure to be a live favourite when the full Batteries band hit the road.

The Fall-In-Love Club

Glasgow's Batteries, the trading name of bis boy Steven Clark, return with the absolute rock hammer of "Pankhurst". It's a metallic synth-punk blast with a massive, stadium-ready melodic chorus which again seems to channel Queens of the Stone Age playing Devo or vice-versa. There's no denying the metal this time and the thrashy sting in the tail ends proceedings a million miles away from Steven's late 90's origins. Lyrically, it's lobotomy or not to lobotomy - the juxtaposition between wanting to give up and wanting to continue the fight. To be a footnote or a Pankhurst. An insight into new album "The Finishing Line" and its darker twists and turns, "Pankhurst" is Batteries modus operandi in all its glory.

Pankhurst

Pigs -

Glasgow's Batteries, the artist otherwise known as Sci-Fi Steven from battle-scarred Indie heroes bis, return with the boundary-stretching "Pigs". An unhinged, visceral Synth-Punk modern nightmare that sucks the blood of of XTC and Devo and mutates into a metallic, pronky animal with no respect for time-signatures and rock tradition. It holds a vicious lyrical mirror on society where the tongue-in-cheek pessimism of the recent past has become the reality of the near-future. One of the darkest moments of second album "The Finishing Line", Steven still manages to find time for a melodic hook or two in amongst the wreckage.

The Finishing Line

August 5, 2016

Pigs

Batteries is the self-titled debut solo album by Steven Clark (professionally known as Sci-Fi Steven) from Glasgow's Punk/Disco legends bis. 

An exercise in short, sharp new-wave snappiness, Steven has ramped up the guitars and latent aggression to create a new sound which has already been compared to Devo playing Queens of the Stone Age or vice-versa. 

Nagging melodies abound with some darker twists and a cynical sense of positivity informs the lyrics. There are plenty of pop hooks for the bis faithful, but Batteries is an angrier beast. Contains anthemic lead track "Batteries" and the viciously wonky pop of "Human Requirements”.

Batteries are disposed of or recharged and here, Steven is trying to work out which kind he is. Taking a left-turn from his work as part of bis (whilst retaining enough familiarity to take original fans along for the ride) Batteries is a much darker place. The electric guitar features more prominently (and in a defiantly more aggressive way) than some may expect but it not about classic riffs, there's a tendency toward the oblique in deference to the ever-present post-punk influences, with undeniable nods to Adam and the Ants, Future of the Left, forgotten Irish legends Compulsion and early Eno.

For his first solo foray, Steven played and recorded everything on the album himself, choosing a deliberately limited range of instruments – from a Fender telecaster, budget Westfield bass guitar, Roland SH-09 monophonic synthesiser and a Roland RS-09.
Lyrically, Batteries deal in the frenzied paranoia of modern living, existential crises and the finite nature of the human being, without ever taking itself remotely seriously. Any bitterness is usually swept away by a sucrose harmony and there's an underlying sense of achieving positivity from a negative beginning. The album is about questionable futures and, not in a romantic science fiction way, a loss of control where submission is the easiest option.

Batteries

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