"The Best New Homegrown Talent" according to Melody Maker. How did this lot fare then in the 21st Century then?
1. Daria - Chicks
From the EP 'Little Monkeys With Lots Of Money', this Irish girl punk pop band, a mini-Breeders if you will, were Melody Maker cover stars, played support for Manic Street Preachers and Sonic Youth and were signed by Dreamworks on a two album deal. Chicks soon fell apart and their much touted debut album "Chicks Do Philly" never hatched.
2. The Rock (No Handshakes Mix) - Delakota
Formed from the ashes of Senseless Things, Delakota were an indie-dance hybrid, a poor man's Primal Scream. Their debut album hit #58 and spawned three Top 75 hits including The Rock which hit#60. A decent start, but the band quickly disappeared. This remix, co-mixed by Tim Goldsworthy, was featured on the single.
3. Dope Slax - Seafood
Alt-punk band from London influenced by Sonic Youth. This track, an XFM session, appeared on their first album, Messenger In The Camp, a compilation of their early Fierce Panda EPs. The band went on to attain a cult following scoring a number of Top 200 entries over the next decade.
4. Uncle Benson - Ten Benson
Named after a packet of cigarettes, this comedy psychedelic/heavy metal outfit released a clutch of acclaimed singles and EPs in the late 90s recording a couple of Peel Sessions along the way. In 2002 they released an album called Satan Kidney Pie - enough said.
5. Into The Waves - Witness
The silliness of Ten Benson gives way to serious alernative Americana...from Wigan. The Verve-ish Witness (Nick McCabe was mates with them)were well received by the music press but a little too uninteresting for commercial success. Their two albums both hit the Top 75 but they soon faded away. This track was the AA side of their first single, along with Quarantine.
6. Why Did My Igloo Collapse? - Ooberman
From the Shorley Wall EP which was one of THE critics' favourites of 1998. After the EP's cult success Ooberman were the band most likely to in 1999. However, despite good reviews and a Top 40 single with Blossoms Falling, subsequent singles and their debut album The Magic Treehouse bombed. The band plodded on but Shorley Wall remained their crowning glory.
7. We've Gone Wrong - Llama Farmers
Greenwich indie-punk four piece who released a number of Top 200 singles and an album Dead Letter Chorus in 1998/9. This track acted as a B side to their biggest single, Big Wheels, which hit #67. They also released a single called Yellow in 1999 which was probably better than that Coldplay muck.
8. The Sad Witch - Hefner
Probably the 'indie-est' band of the late 90s. Singer Darran Hayman was particularly awkward looking, met his band mates at art school and played lo-fi indie folk rock that is destined to never climb higher than #50 in the hit parade. However, they attained a massive cult following recording 10 Peel Sessions in their six years together. This track is from their debut album Breaking God's Heart.
9. Closet Heroine - The Crocketts
Welsh rock band who tragically released an album in 2000 called The Great Brain Robbery. This one is from their debut album called We May Be Skinny & Wirey. V2 dropped them for crimes against album titles in 2001. Singer Davey McManus formed The Crimea soon after.
10. Wheelking 1973 - One Lady Owner
Glam-punks on Creation who hit the dizzy heights of #136 with this single in 1998. An album There's Only We and a couple of follow up singles also surfaced but it was soon to be bye bye One Lady Owner and not long after that bye bye Creation and Three Colours Red.
11. Choke Bore (Jeans Remix) - Scott 4
Indie-country fusion dubbed as 'electronic cowpunks'. Scott 4 met with critical acclaim, especially with their 1999 album, Works Project. This remix from a track on their 1998 Recorded In State LP first surfaced in 1997 as a promotional 12 inch making this the one true rarity on this compilation.
12. Lipstick, Cigarettes, Packet Of 3- Younger Younger 28s
A cross between The Human League and Shampoo singing an ironic song about getting drunk you say? How can this possibly fail to reach higher than #61? Because it sounds like this.
