When I moved to Leeds in 1999 Eighty Six were gigging a lot on the DIY punk circuit and not afraid to use the word emo to describe their sound. Future Obscene Baby Auctioneers James Islip and Graham Pilling (drums and guitar/vocals respectively) played along with Carl Glover doing the bass. We all shared a house for a time and would drink Special Brew and play Mario Kart. Eighty Six sounded a lot like Jawbreaker in those days (the song on LOT 002 is a Jawbreaker cover) but over the next few years took in more of a Dischord records type of sound to the point where their last release had more in common with other OBA lads J*R, one of whose songs they covered live.
They were a fantastic live band, generally much more musically competent and hard hitting than the punk bands they'd be put on bills with. They had a couple of records out on Leeds label Bombed Out and did a UK tour or two and a trip to Scandinavia which was the first outside-of-the-UK gigging any of 'our bands' did.
Eventually Eighty Six stopped gigging due to other musical commitments. Carl played bass in Buzzkill and then The Magnificent with James for a while. Graham did a solo electronica performance act called Pixel Pixel Pixel as well as playing with James in a band called Eagle Eye. James played in Eagle Eye, The Magnificent, Kill Yourself and That Fucking Tank amongst others.
Appearance on: LOT 002
