NOISEY 027: 24 HOURS

The three members of Beijing’s 24 Hours are self-avowed devotees of “Madchester,” the eighties UK scene that developed around bands like the Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses. The band went as far as to name their group after the timeless Joy Division song, and Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 dramatization of the Madchester scene, 24 Hour Party People. They hail from Xi’an, a 3,000-year-old city that was China’s capital for six dynasties. These days it’s one of the most fertile centers for rock and roll outside of the capital.

In 2007 they played their first show at D-22, the near-legendary punk club founded by former Bear Sterns trader Michael Pettis. Pettis also manages Maybe Mars Records, an independent label that lovingly documents the burgeoning “No Beijing” rock scene. Members of Maybe Mars stalwarts Carsick Cars and P.K.-14 were in attendance, and were taken with the young band as they blazed through stuttering, passionate post-punk. 24 Hours signed to Maybe Mars and moved to Beijing in 2008. By the next year they had released their debut album, No Party People. We saw them at Two Kolegas, one of the band’s favorite venues in Beijing. Built in a drive-in movie park, the club is owned by Liu Miao, a local figure that has been instrumental in incubating emerging Beijing rockers.