James Ford and James Shaw met while studying at Manchester University, but found more interest in their bedroom studio sessions. In the late 90s Shaw and Ford formed the band Simian with two others, and found some underground success with their brand of leftfield indie music. The turning point for the band came in late 2003, when underground Parisian dance act Justice gave their single "Never Be Alone" a tough club remix, released as "We Are Your Friends", and in the process helped create the "new rave" genre. Simian limped on for another year, although Shaw and Ford seemed to enjoy DJing more as Simian Mobile Disco, playing a mixture of early rave tunes, with more contemporary rock remixes to rapturous crowds.
In 2005 Simian split up, and Shaw and Ford went on to give Simian Mobile Disco their full attention, starting by making their own raucous 12-inch tracks, to remixing records in the same vein for bands such as Muse and the Go! Team. As pioneers in the new rave scene, Simian Mobile Disco paved the way for bands such as Klaxons, Shitdisco, and Datarock, to purvey their brand of modern rave. Fast becoming a phenomenon, and darlings of the NME, the duo went into the studio in 2006 to make their debut album on Wichita Records. The expectation of the music press was very high and Attack Decay Sustain Release did not disappoint. From the opening "Sleep Deprivation" through to the final ambient drift of "Scott", the album was more polished than the fêted Klaxons. The duo has also released a number of mix compilations via Bugged Out! and Go Commando.
