Airiel - You Kids Should Know Better

I've been aware of Airiel for a little while now, but had no idea the Chicago four-piece had actually been together (in one incarnation or another) since the late 90s. Despite this creative longevity, they didn't really trouble my radar until about 18 months ago when Vertigo, a shoegaze-themed radio station hosted by Live365.com happened to play 'Firefly'.

Further investigation has, inevitably, seen me peruse their many YouTube offerings - not least, this cracking live performance of 'You Kids Should Know Better', a stand-out track from their debut album, The Battle of Sealand.

From this showing, the band look to have been a terrific live act, and I was sorely disappointed to learn that I'd missed a recent UK tour with Ulrich Schnauss. With no publicised releases since 2007, and little activity on their MySpace page one can only hope that new material, and another opportunity to see the band live, is forthcoming.