Hug Birthday: bis

Somehow, 2024 saw the 30th anniversary of the birth of Glasgow, Scotland’s Disco/Punk legends bis. 2025 sees them move in their fourth decade of a rollercoaster existence. A whirlwind first 18 months saw them go from playing to a handful of curious future fans in Glasgow basements to peak-time TV stardom on Top of the Pops and filling huge tents at festivals across Europe all while still teenagers. While the UK media was in equal parts enamoured and horrified by the unorthodox musical DNA of the band, their knack for a nagging melody, unrelenting energy and wide-eyed politics saw them hit big in Japan, nearly breakthrough in America where they had label support from the Beastie Boys and touring with a diverse range of acts reflecting the disparate range of influences the band had – Foo Fighters, The Cardigans, Bikini Kill and Pavement to name but a few. Whilst perhaps best known for early Riot-Grrrl influenced hit ‘Kandy Pop’ or the later slick Techno-Pop of ‘Eurodisco’, the band are also known worldwide as creators of the original theme to ‘The Powerpuff Girls’ cartoon and for the appearance of ‘Statement of Intent’ on the soundtrack to the ‘Jet Set Future’ videogame.

After 3 albums and countless singles, the band temporarily called it a day in 2003, frustrated by record label struggles. They would reunite occasionally (an Islington Academy sellout in 2007 and a triumphant Primavera in 2012 amongst others) but returned with renewed vigour in 2019 with the ‘Slight Disconnects’ album and again in 2022 with the Rave-influenced ‘Systems Music For Home Defence’.

As part of the 30 year anniversary celebrations, the band performed a stand-out sell-out show at Glasgow’s iconic St Luke’s which gathered fans from around the globe as well as respect contemporaries like Mogwai and Franz Ferdinand. With their reputation as a must-see live band gathering pace even now, upcoming shows in 2025 will provide a real treat for hardcore fans and newcomers alike.