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The Strange Death of Liberal England (band)

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The Strange Death of Liberal England
Playing live at the Summer Sundae festival, 2007
Playing live at the Summer Sundae festival, 2007
Background information
OriginPortsmouth, England
GenresIndie rock, post-rock
Years active2005-2011
LabelsFantastic Plastic
MembersAdam Woolway
Andrew Wright
David Lindsay
William Charlton
Kelly Jones
Websitestrangedeath.co.uk

The Strange Death of Liberal England also known as TSDOLE were a five member band from Portsmouth, England.[1] Their influences range from folk to indie rock to post rock with this diversity creating a large number of followers, including BBC Radio One DJs Steve Lamacq, Zane Lowe and Huw Stephens.

The band took its unusual name from George Dangerfield's 1935 book of the same name, about the early 20th century decline of the Liberal Party.

History

Forming in 2005 the five piece band began life with mainly instrumental songs, however as they grew as a band lyrics began to appear in their songs. Their music was often compared to the likes of Arcade Fire and the early work of Pixies, although as they began to form their own following they broke away from these comparisons and began to form their own path.

As well as a self-produced and distributed EP, Stop/Go Happy/Sad Forward/Forward (2005), The Strange Death of Liberal England have released two singles and one "mini-album". The first single titled "A Day Another Day" was released by Fantastic Plastic early in 2007, it was greatly received by fans and music critics alike, with "Oh Solitude" following in June 2007. The band released their first "mini-album" called Forward March! on 9 July 2007 which has received high praise from many sources. "Mute Magic, 7/10" - NME, "quite possibly the best debut album you will leap yourself upon in 2007... 4.5/5" - gigwise.com, "7/10" - Drowned In Sound and more recently the 2008 single "Angelou" which includes the B-side "Scared to death" as well as "Angelou".

The Strange Death of Liberal England released their first full-length album, Drown Your Heart Again, in September 2010.[2][3] The album was preceded by a single, "Rising Sea" in August 2010.[4]

The first track to emerge from these sessions was "Like A Curtain Falling", it was debuted on the band's Myspace page on 18 March 2009. A CD version was available from their New Theatre Royal gig, backed by a demo of the song "September Sparrows".

"Flagships" backed by a four-track demo of "Winter" was released via iTunes on 5 March 2010. A CD was also made, limited to 500 copies made available on the support tour of Editors.

Members

  • William Charlton - Guitar, Drums, Backing Vocals
  • Kelly Jones - Bass, Backing Vocals
  • Andrew Summerly - Drums, Backing Vocals (Summerly left in early 2010 and was replaced on drums by David Lindsay)
  • Adam Woolway - Guitar, Main Vocals
  • Andrew Wright - Glockenspiel, Percussion, Backing vocals

On 6 March 2010 by email the band announced that "Those of you who attended our recent two shows will have noticed that a new pair of arms has been sitting behind the drum kit. Andrew Summerly is no longer drumming for The Strange Death of Liberal England and we would like to thank him for the years of hardwork. We will keep you up-to-date with any new projects embarked upon by Andy but in the meantime would like to welcome our new homme de batterie, Mr David Lindsay, to the band."

Live

The Strange Death of Liberal England had a huge live following, and have played many gigs throughout the UK and Europe, mostly notable Latitude Festival 2007, and a live Maida Vale studio set for Steve Lamacq. The band have also supported Manic Street Preachers during their 2007 tour. The band were known for their unique style of presentation during their gigs, as rather than speaking they held up placards with statements such as "we are bandini" and "Repent", as well as song titles, and "thank you".[5][6] This unique idea and the quality of their live performances has created an almost cult following.

Whilst the band did not play many dates in 2008 they played gigs in Germany with Mother Tongue & The Animal Five, in Spain at Primavera Sound (Barcelona) and gigs in England at The Freebutt, The Water Rats and at The Offset Festival.

The band returned to the stage in April 2009 at The New Theatre Royal Portsmouth and played dates with The Editors on their March 2010 tour.

The band played at the Beautiful Days festival 2011 in Devon where they were well received by the crowd, despite the heavy rain.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

  • "A Day Another Day" (2007)
  • "Oh Solitude" (2007)
  • "Angelou" (2008) Limited to 500 copies.
  • "Rising Sea" (2010)

References

  1. ^ Jude Rogers (13 July 2007). "The Strange Death of Liberal England, Forward March". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  2. ^ Gourlay, Dom (2010) "The Strange Death Of Liberal England album release date confirmed, more shows...", Drowned in Sound, 15 June 2010, retrieved 2010-08-20
  3. ^ "The Strange Death of Liberal England announce UK tour & debut album details", Artrocker, 11 August 2010, retrieved 2010-08-20
  4. ^ "The Strange Death Of Liberal England - Rising Sea", This Is Fake DIY, 11 August 2010, retrieved 2010-08-20
  5. ^ Miles Johnson (7 July 2007). "The Strange Death of Liberal England". The Scotsman. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
  6. ^ Bray, Elisa (2007) "The Strange Death of Liberal England, Everything Must Go, London", The Independent, 31 January 2007, retrieved 2010-08-20
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