| The Telescopes | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England |
| Genres | Experimental, Space Rock, Shoegazing, Psychedelic Rock |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | Cheree Records, What Goes On Records, Double Agent Records, Antenna Records, Hungry Audio, Trensmat Records |
| Members | |
| Stephen Lawrie Bridget Hayden |
|
| Past members | |
| David Fitzgerald Joanna Doran Robert Brooks Dominic Dillon |
|
The Telescopes were formed in 1987 by Stephen Lawrie and could best be described as a noise/space rock band - the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and Spacemen 3 being influences and contemporaries.
Contents |
Their debut release was a split flexi disc with Loop on the Cheree label in 1988, which was given away with the Sowing Seeds fanzine.[1][2] There followed their debut single, "Kick the Wall", and "7th# Disaster" also on Cheree Records. They moved to the American What Goes On Records and released their debut LP, Taste and "The Perfect Needle" single which is perhaps their most famous song. A live album appeared on Fierce Records and following What Goes On’s bankruptcy they signed to Creation Records.[2] In contrast to Taste's noise-rock, a more laid back, baggy influenced sound followed, described by journalist Alexis Petridis as having "an almost fragile sense of elegance and melody",[3] and the band scraped the lower reaches of the UK singles chart with the single "Flying", and released The Telescopes, their second album, in 1992. Lawrie explained the change in direction: "Your idea of perfection changes as you move on. I think we still hold the same approach to our music now, we still try just as many mad ideas, it's just a lot more subtle and works to a different end".[3]
They toured again with a different line-up, new sound and all new songs in 1994 and later evolved into Unisex releasing a number of records. Unisex were Stephen Lawrie (Vocals) Jo Doran (Guitars/Backing Vocals) Nick Hemming (Guitars/Keyboards) Dan (Drums) Foz (Bass)
In 2002 they made a surprise return with "The Third Wave" on Double Agent Records. In 2005 they released their fourth album "The Telescopes #4" on their own Antenna Records. By this time they were a core of just Stephen Lawrie and Jo Doran, with additional member Lorin Halsall (a member of The Dust Collectors), and were a much more experimental band specialising in electronic soundscapes. In 2006 The Telescopes line up again changed to Stephen Lawrie and Bridget Hayden.[4] This incarnation continues in the experimental noise terror direction which has occupied The Telescopes since the turn of the 20th century.[5] They continue to perform live and release records.[6] The band were chosen by Portishead to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror festival that they curated in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace.[7]