Angry Vs The Bear

Angry Vs The Bear

Angry Vs The Bear is a British group from Colchester, United Kingdom, now known as F.O.X. The band plays a frantic, noisy, electro and punk-tinged pop style, with a female-fronted line-up.

Overview

The group forms in Colchester and stays together for three years, during which it releases two singles in the UK. Its first single, Show Emotion, is picked up by Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens and named his Record Of The Week.

Angry Vs The Bear builds a reputation around live performance and avoids using a backing track, instead using technology to keep its sound live. The band tours the UK three times and plays numerous festival slots.

Festival and live appearances

The band showcases twice at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, where it plays to sold-out crowds. Gibson names it its band of the festival. The group also supports Florence And The Machine, The Futureheads, Juliette Lewis, The Hoosiers, Dirty Pretty Things, Twenty Twenty, The Pipettes, Esser, Neon Trees and Ben's Brother.

Media use and recognition

Angry Vs The Bear’s music appears in several advertising campaigns. A track is used as the title music for a global TV campaign for Investec Bank, shown on channels worldwide and in Odeon cinemas. The band’s music also appears in online campaigns for Karen Millen and River Island, as well as in a national TV advert for Chappelfield Shopping Village.

The group wins the Best UK Act award at the Rock The House awards ceremony, a government-run initiative judged by major-label A&R representatives, Live Nation, Raw Power Management and the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

Style and critical description

Coverage describes the band’s sound as synth-led retro pop with punk energy and new-wave influence. It is also described as raucous, glitzy and confident in live performance.

Later activity

The band is in discussions with Hed Kandi and Ministry of Sound about remixes for club use, and plans a full American tour alongside the expected release of its debut album.