Influenced by early Sonic Youth and Glenn Branca in musical terms and Black Flag and Fugazi in ideological terms, the band was founded in 2004 in Bletchley, England, by Don Mclean and James Carney. The duo began playing together as an improvisational bass-and-drums twosome that encompassed noise as well as comedy. After a while, the two longtime friends both moved to guitar and employed a drum machine as their rhythm section. They also phased out the comedy aspect of their stage show and began taking their music more seriously. In time, Action Beat evolved into a full band featuring core members Pete Taylor (baritone sax), Lewis Webb (bass), and Jake Burton (drums), in addition to Mclean (guitar) and Carney (guitar). Moreover, this core quintet was regularly expanded upon with guest musicians, especially in concert, where Action Beat have been known to feature as many as three or more drummers and guitars on-stage at once. In the early years, Action Beat put on shows at the Bletchley Youth Club, where they honed their live performance ability and made connections with other bands. The group made its full-length album debut in 2007 with 1977-2007: Thirty Years of Hurt, Then Us Cunts Exploded, which was released on the band's own label, Fortissimo Records. They were then signed to a recording contract with Truth Cult, a newly founded subsidiary label of Southern Records, on which they released their second album, The Noise Band from Bletchley (2009). Keeping with their hard-touring work ethic, Action Beat took to the road in support of the album, touring not only Western Europe but the United States as well. ~ Jason Birchmeier