Bis

Teen-C

Bis, stylized in lowercase and pronounced biss, formed in late 1994 in Giffnock, near Glasgow, and took the name from a lyric in The The's "Twilight of a Champion". Manda Rin (Amanda MacKinnon) and John Disco were still at Woodfarm High School and Sci-Fi Steven had just left. John Peel championed them early, with sessions on October 14, 1995 and June 16, 1996 released in 2023. After the 1995 EPs Transmissions on the Teen-C Tip! and Disco Nation 45, three EPs entered the UK singles chart in 1996 (The Secret Vampire Soundtrack at 25), and they played Kandy Pop on Top of the Pops, reportedly as the first unsigned band to do so. Their circle was the Teen-C movement, zines and Nation of Ulysses; the NME readers' poll placed Kandy Pop 49th among the fifty greatest Britpop songs.

The New Transistor Heroes (April 7, 1997) reached 55 in the UK and 19 in Japan, and in 1998 they were asked by Craig McCracken to write the theme of The Powerpuff Girls. Social Dancing came out on March 22, 1999 in Scotland and August 10 in the US on Wiiija and Grand Royal/Capitol. Return to Central (September 18, 2001) and the live Play Some Real Songs followed, and they split in 2003 after a farewell show, Wikipedia says at King Tut's in March and Punknews dates the final gig to April 26, supporting Motormark. They reformed for three shows in April 2007 and again in 2009, played Primavera in May 2010 and released data Panik etcetera (2014), Slight Disconnects (February 15, 2019) and Systems Music for Home Defence (October 28, 2022). In 2025 they put out a split single with Art Brut.

Members have side projects including Manda Rin's solo My DNA (2008), Steven's Italian Electro and John's Dirty Hospital. Setlist.fm shows about 182 setlists; the band toured Britain in 2025 and 2026.