Bassist Matthew McAuley, synthesizer player Thomas Bullock, guitarist Ryan Noel and vocalist Brain F. McPeck formed A.R.E. Weapons, a New York City-based group that began to generate a stir within underground circles in 2001 for their aggressive, confrontational shows and their buzzing and willfully ramshackle electro-rock. During a visit to New York, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker heard the band and encouraged Rough Trade's Geoff Travis to sign them. He obliged, and the band's debut single, Street Gang, was out by the end of July 2001. A second single, New York Muscle, was released in ...