A [UK]

›A [UK]›Übersicht

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GenreRock, Alternative, Pop

Rang−

Alben5

Songs104

ÜberSuccinctly named English band that attempted to cash in on the late 90s commercial success of US pop/punk bands such as the Offspring, Smash Mouth and Blink-182. The band was the brainchild of the three Perry siblings, twins Jason (b. 1970, England; vocals) and Adam (b. 1970, England; drums), and their younger brother Giles (b. 1974, England; keyboards). Born in Leeds, the teenage brothers later moved south to Suffolk where they formed a band called Grand Designs with Mark Chapman (b. 1970, England; guitar) and Stevie Swindon (bass). The band relocated to London in 1993 and renamed themselves A. Borrowing money to construct their own studio, they recorded several demos and built up a devoted live following before signing to London Records in early 1997. New bass player Daniel P. Carter (b. 1974, England) joined a couple of months later. The new line-up set about recording their first album, a riotous collection of brief, melodic songs epitomised by the relentlessly upbeat "Cheeky Monkey" and "Foghorn". Relentless touring followed as the band built up an enviable live reputation. A new single, "Summer On The Underground", appeared in October 1998. "A" vs Monkey Kong (named after the legendary computer game) stayed true to the band's blueprint of loud thrashy guitars, breakbeats and catchy melodies. Stand-out tracks included the singles "Old Folks" ("The old folks are losers, they can't use computers") and "I Love Lake Tahoe", and the ultra-fast punk pastiche, "Don't Be Punks". The band finally made their mainstream breakthrough in early 2002 when "Nothing", taken from their third album Hi-Fi Serious, reached the UK Top 10. It proved to be the band's breakthrough single, and the follow-up single, the immensely poppy 'Starbucks' recieved massive airplay, although the final single 'Something's Going On' recieved very little airplay or rotation, and subsequently failed to make a dent on the charts. The band retired to LA to work on their fourth album, but record company politics delayed the release of it. Fan's appitites were whetted by the arrived of the newer, darker, edgier sound of 'A' by the video for first single 'Rush Song'. A's new direction was embraced, and the second single was the dark but insanely poppy "Better Off With Him." Teen Dance Ordinance, named after the LA law that kids can't attend gigs unless there is a police escort, arrived in the shops in late July.