Bombay Bicycle Club is a very unique—and uniquely complex—pop group. A series of three albums over as many years, supplemented by a handful of singles and EPs, brought BBC a slow rumble of appreciation in its native England. By rights, the band’s fourth album ought to be the one that brings it the recognition that’s so far eluded it in the U.S., because So Long, See You Tomorrow (Vagrant) is, even on first listen, an LP that announces a sea change in a group’s approach, in the vein of Revolver or Pet Sounds. That’s high praise, but So Long is, among other things, the most sonically complex of all the band’s records. BBC—guitarist/vocalist Jack Steadman, guitarist Jamie MacColl, drummer Suren de Saram and bassist Ed Nash—will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on the band.
de Saram: Kebabs don’t seem to have taken off in the U.S. as they have done in the U.K., which is a shame. Over here, it’s quite common to get a doner kebab on the way home from a night out. Some people eat them when sober, too. I’m pleased to say that I’ve found my new favourite kebab shop in London. Terry’s kebabs fuelled me through the recording and mixing of our new album. Located just around the corner from our studio, when it came to lunchtime it was difficult to resist a special chicken shish from Terry himself. All the ingredients that went into Terry’s kebabs had been well thought through—the succulent pieces of marinated chicken breast (a shish kebab is cubes of breast meat as opposed to a doner kebab, which is basically meat from any part of the animal stuck together), the creamy garlic sauce and fresh chilli sauce, the superbly dressed salad. All wrapped up in the best Turkish bread I’ve ever had. It all added up to one marvellous concoction. If you’re coming to London anytime soon, make Terry’s your first stop!
