Klaxons initially unprepared

Klaxons wasted "a lot of time and money" by going into the studio unprepared.

The psychedelic rock band famously had their initial attempt at recording second album 'Surfing The Void' scrapped by their record company, leading to them taking three years to follow up their Mercury Music Prize winning debut album.

Guitarist Simon Taylor-Davis admitted the band weren't initially ready to record when they first did, telling The Scotsman newspaper: "We made the big mistake of going into the studio without any new songs. If you want to waste a lot of time and a lot of money, follow our example!

"We came up with a lot of exciting, experimental and totally self-indulgent stuff - crazy time signatures, really long songs."

After aborted attempts to record with a number of different producers, the group finally found a sound they liked with heavy metal producer Ross Robinson and the results were released this week. The band will also play the Reading and Leeds festivals this weekend, where bassist Jamie promises the band will put on an audio/visual spectacular for their slot headlining the NME/Radio1 stages.

He told NME magazine: "We've got a full team, and Ed Warren, our visuals guy is going to be on board for the first time, so he will do his business.

"I think the set's really strong. We've set the balance really well and we're just raring to go."

Klaxons play Leeds on Saturday (28.08.10) and Reading on Sunday (29.08.10).