Hastings “psych experimentalists” Column258 release “13th Floor” a second taster of soon to be released debut album.
The most "conventional" song from the bands upcoming debut album "Interloper".. A dirty bass line underpins a true narrative of being trapped in a crazed sculptures studio on the 13th floor of a Frankfurt high rise. Recorded above a disused tool station on the Ponswood industrial estate, Hastings. Previous singles gained 6 Music air play from Gilles Peterson and Huey Morgan plus Soho Radio's Morning Glory’s "track of the day." TWICE!
“True story—stranded high up in a tower block in Frankfurt’s Europa quarter;
song describes escalating feelings of vertigo, claustrophobia and nausea,
as the writer is stuck in a dark and filthy room with a chain-smoking poet/sculptor.
The line about climbing into his BMW Messerschmitt micro car underscores the
feelings of entrapment and the off the ceiling rage to escape …” Ross Clifford. Vocals / Guitar
"If Bauhaus Pete Murphy joined Future Days era Can" The Quietus
The band play an album launch party 26th April at Hasting White Rock Cellar Bar.
The single 13th Floor is released 18th March 2025
WAV DOWNLOAD
The album“Interloper (the workshop sessions vol 1)” is released 25th April 2025
When comparisons are made to Suicide, Bauhaus, Joy Division, Can, Gong, James Chance, you will know that Hastings’ Column258 tread the outer edges of formulaic rock+roll. They are a true experimental collective, combining spoken word + improvisation.
Maybe it’s the abundance of small venues accommodating free entry gigs and promoters like VWR and Freakz, that enables the East Sussex seaside town to develop a scene comparable to New Yorks late 70’s No Wave movement.
Column258 can count themselves as one the burgeoning scene’s protagonists. There live shows combine mischievous art-rock with a psychedelic atmosphere Blending analogue and digital: bluenote brass, korgs, screaming vocoders and hypnotic guitars with inventive song cycles. Multi-vocal looping, poems written on the back of gas bills and electric pinecones, the band exemplifies the unexpected.
Column258’s live foundations are in warehouse parties, roof top gigs and art galleries. It’s only been over this last year they started playing more traditional rock venues resulting in tightly honed performances through years of playing but considered” new players” to promoters and gig goers alike.