By CHRIS SWEENEY

MILES KANE had thepedal to the metal lastyear, powering his solocareer into overdrive —but he’s NOT easing off.Everything the Scouse rock’n’ roller touches right nowseems to turn to gold and hewants to keep his good rungoing.New single First Of My Kindwas made for a laugh — but ithas ended up being a big hit.Miles, 26, said: “I wanted todo it as a little keepsake for thefans.“We did it when we got backfrom Australia supporting ArcticMonkeys in January.“We had a few days offbefore going on tour in France— we did it in four days.“I wasn’t really thinking of itas a proper single, so there wasno pressure on it to chart or getplayed on the radio.“It was about putting a greatsong out there and letting peo-ple come to it, so they’vedecided what it’s done.“And that’s great as nowwe’re on Radio 1 and all theother stations.“Obviously I’m buzzing, asevery song you put out youwant to do well.”This time last year, Mileswas seen as an unknown entitywith everything to prove.He’d flirted with success inindie band TheRascals andteamed up withbest pal AlexTurner as TheLast ShadowPuppets.But debutalbum ColourOf The Trapcame out lastMay and won anarmy of fans.Alex admitted:“It feels like I’veturned a lot of peo-ple’s heads and gotthem on board.“With The Puppetsand The Rascals, it sortof happened but it didn’t— I took those ups anddowns on board to findout who I am.“It might sound really overthe top, but I couldn’t be herenow doing my solo stuff if Ihadn’t gone through all that,as I don’t think I would havefound myself.”He added: “I didn’t take anytime off and I don’t want tountil I’ve done this next albumand I’ve f***ing had it.“Things are great, it’s excitingtimes for me.“If I felt like it, I’d take abreak but I don’t want to stopthe momentum. I don’t want totake time out, I love playinglive too much.“I feel at home on stage andmiss it when I don’t gig — I’venot done anything for amonth and I’m itching to getback to it.”Miles won’t have to waitmuch longer.He starts a UK tour thismonth, which hits Glasgow’s

Barrowland on April 21before heading to Dundee andInverness.The Barrowland gig is a bitof a milestone for him.He explained: “A year agowe were supporting Beady Eyethere.“So to go back and headlineit, I can’t wait for that one.”Miles is going to meet upsoon with Modfather PaulWeller for a studio session —and he has already decided onthe sound he wants on hisnext album.He said: “It’s going to be areal banging record, the blue-

print of it is rock’n’roll with calland response vocals.“That’s the way I want to goand I’ve got the vision for it.“I've been working hardto get the songs in shape.“I want them done overthe summer and to getthe record out in theautumn. That is what it’sall about.”Q Pre-order The First Of MyKind EP, which is beingreleased for Record StoreDay on April 21, and get tourtickets at mileskane.com

BY JIM GELLATLYNEW MUSIC

CHA CHA HEELSWHO: Miss Marks (vocalsviolin), Cragg Stromo (vocals/percussion/megaphone), MrBrown (bass), Castor (guitar),James Richmond (drums),Starky (keys)WHERE: DundeeFOR FANS OF: Scissor Sisters,Blondie, GoldfrappJIM SAYS: Local scenesterDaisy Dundee introduced meto Cragg from Cha Cha Heelsat Drouthy Neebors in Dundeelast Friday after previouslysending me their debut EP.Unfortunately I’d overlooked

it. Well, that was a major errorof judgment on my part and Iapologised for not playing anyof their music on the radio.Cragg’s response made me

even more sure that I’d missedout. He told me that they mixedtheir music with a bit of caba-ret, and that the live show waswhere it’s really at.I’ve not seen them live, but

judging by the tracks I wassent, it must be some show!The note that originally

accompanied Cha Cha Heels'EP said: “It is a collection offive original tracks varying ingenre, and lyrically tells tales ofsocial realism, jaded youth andbroken hearts.”I like that as a statement of

intent, but there is a recurringstrand through the music tomark it out as the work of asingle act.So many times, when acts

have told me they cover arange of genres, they end upsounding schizophrenic. Theytry to appeal to everybody, butend up appealing to no one.That’s not true with Cha Cha

Heels, who create a wonder-fully fresh take on pop music.Lead track on the EP, Red

Light Lady, is a massive electro-pop rocker, somewherebetween The Black Keys andScissor Sisters.There’s stacks of style about

Cha Cha Heels, but thankfullythey back it up with content.Cragg told me: “We want

people to listen to our musicand come to our shows, andforget about everything otherthan the moment they are in.“No troubles. Total escapism.

We just want to entertainpeople and for them to enjoyour music and shows.”I’d been drawn to Drouthy’s

to see Kates’ — Blair Kerr andGrant Dickson — play their firstgig in eight years.Grant then contacted me on

Sunday to say Blair had diedsuddenly. He was just 40.I’ve paid tribute to Blair else-

where (including a podcastdedicated him), but I mentionhim here as Cha Cha Heelswere exactly the sort of bandhe loved.MORE: facebook.com/chachaheelsukQ Jim’ll be playing Cha ChaHeels on In:Demand Uncut —Sunday 7-10pm on Clyde 1,Forth One, Northsound 1,Radio Borders, Tay FM, WestFM & West Sound FM.

MILES is ready to go one betterduring festival season this summer.And he’s back at Balado — doing T

In The Park for the second year onthe bounce.He raved: “Last year it was a bang-

ing. We played this littletent and it was off the wall— it was one of my favour-ite gigs.“I’m not too sure where

we’re playing or what slotwe’ve got this year but it’sgreat to get asked backand hopefully we’ll blowlast year out the water.”

THE ROBOMOW, £1,071IT’S time to dust off the mower and getback to cutting the garden.But here’s something that

could turn that annoying job intoa joy – a robot version that doesthe lot for you.The RM510 Robomow can do

the business on lawns up to 500square metres and is the fasteston the market.Just set up the boundaries of

your grass and set it off – it canhandle up to four different terrains withoutyou stepping in, has a tilting blade to avoidobstacles and a bumper in case of

accidents. It’s what they call a mulchingmower, so you don’t have to empty it – allthe cuttings simply get chopped up very

small and are then pepperedacross your lawn.Programme it to go off during

the day when you’re out – justlike the indoor robot vacuumcleaners that are so popular withlazy bachelor boys and richstudents.And once the Robomow is

finished, it automatically returnsto its base station to charge up ready forthe next session.Sounds a cut above to us.

POLITICS is everywhere. You cantry to avoid it (like I do) or get stuckright in, à la topical knowledge-merchant Andy Zaltzman.He graduated in classics from

Oxford — now that’s proper stuff.Andy is also one half of hit satiricalpodcast The Bugle, alongsideJohn Oliver from The Daily ShowWith Jon Stewart. The Radio 4 starperforms at The Udderbelly in Lon-don on Wednesday . . . but notbefore answering our questions.The PM wants raunchy popvideos to get an 18 rating. Whatdo you make of this?More effective would be to make

it compulsory for all scantily-cladporn-lite pop videos to include aQueen Victoria impersonatorsitting in the corner, tutting disgust-edly.Abu Hamza has lost his legal bat-tle to stay in the UK. How do youfeel about that?He’s increasingly unlikely to fea-

ture on any TV countdowns of 100Greatest Britons. And any manwho chooses to have a hook for ahand despite the advantages ofbeing (a) alive in the 21st Centuryand (b) not a fictional character,clearly should be treated withconsiderable suspicion.You’re a Political Animal. Whatreal animals would you liken toUK Cabinet members?PM’s Questions can give the

impression that politicianshave a 99 per cent DNAmatch with hyenas

and/or unfed gibbons. The NHSreforms appear to have beendrafted by an infinite number ofmonkeys with an infinite number ofmalfunctioning typewriters. And inadvising people to stockpile flam-mable substances Francis Maudedisplayed the political wisdom anddelicacy of a rhinoceros.Who do people tell you you looklike?The list is long, and at certain

gigs has been aggressively com-municated. Stand-outs includeQueen Elizabeth I and Shirley Tem-ple, and Simon & Garfunkel –which was at best only half valid.What was your reaction to theBoat Race swimming protestor?It was good to see a student jour-

nalist with such commitment toon-the-spot interviewing. The mid-race opinions of the rowers wouldhave been fascinating if the policehad not intervened so swiftly.Has having a sculptor for a dadtaught you anything?That if you are to embark on a

stand-up career it helps to have atleast one parent who cannot tellyou to “get a proper job”.What do your shows offer?Solutions to all the world’s social

and political problems. And somepuns about dogs.l Andy’s touring the UK with ArmchairRevolutionary and performing Political

Animal at the Soho Theatre.For ticket info and more

follow @hel-lobuglers.

LAST CHANCE . . . with Puppets’ Alex

CLOSE CALL . . . The Rascals

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SOLO STAR . . . Milessays the experiencehe had in groupshas helped him winfans in his own right

8 SFTW Friday, April 13, 2012