They were the trio from Glasgow barely out of secondary school who landed on the now defunct BBC prime time show Top of the Pops and were acclaimed as the first unsigned band to make an appearance.
It was twenty years ago and Bis's quirky Teen-C elecro-punk was given national exposure and hurtled their Secret Vampire Soundtrack with lead track Kandy Pop into the pop charts.
Fast forward to 2016, four albums later and two years after the band celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut single with their first new album in 13 years – Steven Clark (Sci-fi Steven), brother John (John Disco) and Amanda MacKinnon (Manda Rin) are seemingly back in an elongated hiatus.
One man has been busy.
When Sci-Fi Steven, now 40, and the oldest of the trio, is not kept occupied by running his Sparkle Horse pub in Glasgow, he has developed a solo project under the moniker Batteries.
And since May, last year, there have been two albums, with all the poppy Devo-esque melodies that fans of Bis will be used to but with a far rougher, sharper edge.
The captivating second album The Finishing Line came out in August and the songs from the freaky glam-thrash of Fall In Love Club to the gloriously Franz Ferdinand-esque Pankhurst were given an airing in all their goofball glory in support of Future of the Left at a sold out Nice n Sleazy in Glasgow with the help of the three Michaels from now defunct Cumbernauld indie band We Are The Physics.
"They came through a rigorous audition program and we're beginning to show real prowess in the onstage arena," said Steven.
"Batteries is a more aggressive and angrier beast. Probably more rock. There are occasional similarities with Bis inevitably due to my inability to remove the monstrous influence Devo have had on me!"
The influence doesn't just extend to the music, all four strode onto the stage in Devo-like boiler suits with the band's moniker emblazoned over a pocket.
"It seems so long ago now that the second album is out there. The responses I've had have been good," said Steven.
He didn't rule out more Bis at some point.
"Making new Bis records has been difficult... but there may be more in the future," he said.
"Batteries has been easier for me as I just record solo in the house in my spare time."
While Batteries may be scuzzier than Bis, the dynamics are more traditionally structured than that of Glasgow four-piece screamo noise-rockers Damn Teeth who preceded them. While a shambolic hit-and-miss tour-de-force they reveal a captivating synth-buzzed chaotic energy typified by a spellbindingly feral anthem I.D.N.F.I.N.M.
Their debut album was released on old fashoned cassette in July 2015 via Good Grief records. Recording is already underway for an as-yet-unnamed album expected some time in 2017.
With The Pixies set for a Barrowlands show on Friday in support of a new album, the Boston alterno-rock legends could do worse than to get their lugs round Future of the Left who headlined.
The Welsh post-hardcore trio conjured up all the bile and brimstone, the histrionics, and the sheer weirdness of the Pixies in their prime.
Arming Eritrea and Small Bones Small Bodies has more fire than Up Helly Aa while Manchasm's synth throb shapes shows they have tunes to match their eccentricity.
There are times when they make your ears bleed through the sheer savagery of their execution.
And they are as brutal with their dialogue.
The band had no time for one punter who appeared to vanish after a sudden apparently racist chant.
They tweeted after the show: "Amazing show Glasgow, apart from the sudden white power shout. Wrong meeting, I think. It was dealt with.
"Anyone who says Brexit / Trump hasn't emboldened racists needs to get out into the real world and stop lying to themselves.
"We're a band called Future of the Left and we saw it at one of our own shows tonight. It was pathetic, but real.
"Not to decry Glasgow - the headline is that Glasgow crowds are a wonder of the f***ing world.
"Hesitated to even mention it because, after our experience, Glasgow just reaffirmed my faith in what we do."
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