Tompaulin were an indie pop band formed in Blackburn, Lancashire, England in 1999, and named after the Northern Irish poet, critic, and lecturer Tom Paulin.
Tompaulin | |
|---|---|
 Tompaulin playing at RoTa, Notting Hill, 13 August 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Blackburn, Lancashire, England |
| Genres | Indie pop |
| Years active | 1999 - c.2007 |
| Labels | Action, Track & Field, Ugly Man |
| Past members | Stacey McKenna Simon "Tap" Trought Jamie Holman Ciaron Melia Amos Memon Katie Grocott Giles Cooke Lee Davies |
The band initially comprised Stacey McKenna (vocals), Simon "Tap" Trought (guitar), Jamie Holman (vocals/guitar/words), and Ciaron Melia (drums), although the line-up changed several times with other members including Amos Memon (drums), Katie Grocott (bass), Giles Cooke (banjo/guitar), and Lee Davies (keyboards).[1] The band released five singles on the Action Records, Track & Field, and Ugly Man labels, before the release of their debut album, The Town and the City in 2001.[1] The album was called "amazingly self-assured, confident and among the best releases of 2001" by Flak magazine.[2] The band were often compared to Belle & Sebastian, and their music was described by Kitty Empire in the NME as "equal parts beguiling and entertaining",[3][4] while The Times described them as "exactly the right balance between grim reality and the chord sequences that lift you out of it".[5] A further single followed on Track & Field in 2002, and the band went on to release two further albums on the label before splitting up.
The band recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, in 2000 and 2001.[6]
Discography
editSingles
edit- "Ballad of the Bootboys" (1999) Action
- Carcrash EP (2000) Action
- "Slender" (2000) Action
- "It's a Girl's World" (2001) Track & Field
- "My Life at the Movies" (2001) Ugly Man
- "Give Me a Riot in the Summertime" (2002) Track & Field
Albums
edit- The Town and the City (2001) Ugly Man
- Into the Black (2005) Track & Field
- Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt (2006) Track & Field
References
edit- ^ a b Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Tompaulin", in The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0
- ^ Wittmershaus, Eric (2001) "Tompaulin The Town and the City", Flak
- ^ Kitty Empire (2001) "Tompaulin: It's a Girl's World", NME, 18 January 2001
- ^ Clancy, Ben (2001) "Tompaulin/Kicker/The Gospel Oak: London Aldgate East Arts Cafe", NME, 11 January 2001
- ^ Edwards, Mark (2005) "Tompaulin: Into the Black", The Times, 9 January 2005
- ^ Tompaulin at the BBC's Keeping It Peel site