Senseless Things

Senseless Things were a British indie punk band, active on the UK gig and festival circuit from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. Allmusic rates them as "ahead of their time".^[1]

Career

Senseless Things formed around the musical partnership of songwriter Mark Keds (vocals, guitar) and Morgan Nicholls (bass, originally guitar), who as eleven-year-olds in Twickenham, Middlesex put together Wild Division in the early 1980s. With the addition of drummer Cass Browne (also occasionally known as Cass Cade and Cass Traitor) they became the Psychotics, playing various venues in their local area despite still being at school. Their first gig together as the Senseless Things followed at the subsequently-demolished Clarendon in Hammersmith, London, in October 1986. Auxiliary members at this stage included a keyboard player, Ben, and a guitarist, Gerry, who deputised for Nicholls while the latter was studying for his O levels.^[2]

The definitive Senseless Things line-up formed in summer 1987 when Nicholls returned to take over bass, with the new recruit, former BBC clerk Ben Harding acquiring the vacant guitarist's role. Taking their musical cue from The Ramones and The Dickies, and their spiritual lead from fellow guitar outfit Mega City Four, the quartet embarked upon a hectic touring schedule, often playing on the same bill as Mega City Four, Snuff and Perfect Daze.

The band's first releases were singles given away with issues of Yo Jo Jo^[3] and Sniffin' Rock fanzines.^[2] By March 1988 the band had attracted the attention of the BBC Radio One disc jockey John Peel, who invited them to record the first of two sessions for his programme. The "Up And Coming" 12-inch followed, then "Girlfriend", both on Way Cool Records.^[4]

Their first album followed, Postcard CV,^[5] capturing the energy of their concerts by packing ten tracks into twenty two minutes. The album was rounded off by "Too Much Kissing", which was released as a single^[6] and was to become their signature track. The band then joined What Goes On Records just as it collapsed, then signed to Vinyl Solution subsidiary Decoy Records, who released the four-track EP "'Is It Too Late?", in May 1990.^[4]

The group stayed with Decoy for "Can't Do Anything", which prefaced an appearance at the Reading Festival, and then signed to Epic Records at the start of 1991.^[2] The subsequent album The First Of Too Many saw the band experimenting with other styles including acoustic songs, and the single "Got It At The Delmar" entered the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.^[7] Two further Top 20 singles followed in 1991/1992 - "Easy To Smile" and "Hold It Down".^[7] The band toured the United States, supporting Blur, and went to Japan for the first time, appearing on talent show Ika-Ten.

Cover art for Postcard CV, The First of Too Many and many single releases around this period was provided by comic artist Jamie Hewlett, creator of Tank Girl and Gorillaz.

The second single from 1993's Empire Of The Senseless, "Homophobic Asshole" received critical acclaim but was released reluctantly by their record company due to the band's choice of title^[2] and failed to chart. Follow-up single "Primary Instinct" had more commercial success. In 1995, the band released a final album, Taking Care Of Business accompanied by two singles including "Christine Keeler" (renamed from "Christian Killer"). They split up after farewell tours of the UK and Japan.

Line-up

• Mark Keds - vocals/guitar
• Ben Harding - guitar/vocals
• Morgan Nicholls - bass
• Cass Browne - drums

Post Senseless Things

Keds very briefly became a member of The Wildhearts before forming Jolt,^[1] Trip Fontaine, The Lams, Like A Bitch and, most recently, DeadCuts. He also co-wrote The Libertines hit 'Can't Stand Me Now' which took a line from the Jolt single 'Hey! Kitten'.

Harding went on to join 3 Colours Red in their original incarnation from 1996 to 1999^[8] before pursuing a career in public and media relations.

Morgan joined Vent 414^[9] with Miles Hunt from The Wonder Stuff then went on to play with The Streets. He is now part of Muse's touring line-up and has also played with Lily Allen and The Who.

Cass went on to sing for Delakota^[10] and now drums for Gorillaz. He also briefly played with Urge Overkill.

Senseless Things reformed (minus Morgan, who was unavailable and replaced by Micky Wyle, ex-Hitechjet) for a secret (billed as Mark Keds) four-song performance at Islington Academy, London on 4 March 2007 – over twelve years after the band last performed – as part of a gig to celebrate the life of former Mega City Four frontman Darren "Wiz" Brown, who died in December 2006.

Discography

Albums

• Postcard C.V. (1989) - LP, MC - Way Cool (WC 004 LP)
• The First of Too Many (1991) - LP (black vinyl), LP (purple vinyl), CD, MC - Epic - UK No. 66^[7]
• Empire of the Senseless (1992) - CD - Epic - UK No. 37^[7]
  • Empire of the Senseless/Postcard C.V. (1993) - Double LP, double CD, MC - Epic
• Peel Sessions (1994) - CD - Strange Fruit
• Taking Care of Business (1995) - CD, LP - Epic
• Singles (1998) - CD - Epic
• Postcard C.V. (2010) - CD - Cherry Red (re-issue with extra tracks)^[11]

Singles/EPs

• 1988 - "I'm Moving" 7" flexi
• 1988 - "Sniffin' Rock #3" - split 7" w/ Crazyhead
• 1989 - "Senseless Things" - rehearsals bootleg 7"
• 1988 - "Up & Coming" 12"
• 1989 - "Girlfriend" / "Standing in the Rain" 7"
• 1989 - "Too Much Kissing" / "Trevor"
• 1990 - "Andy In A Karmann" 12" (promo only^[12])
• 1990 - "Is it Too Late?"
• 1990 - "Can't Do Anything"
• 1991 - "Everybody's Gone" - UK No. 73
• 1991 - "Got it at the Delmar" - UK No. 50
• 1991 - "Easy to Smile" - UK No. 18
• 1991 - "Up & Coming" (CD re-release)
• 1992 - "Hold it Down" - UK No. 19
• 1992 - "Homophobic Asshole"
• 1993 - "Primary Instinct" - UK No. 41
• 1993 - "Too Much Kissing" - UK No. 69
• 1994 - "Christine Keeler" - UK No. 56
• 1995 - "Something to Miss" - UK No. 57^[7]

References

External links

• Senseless Things fansite
• Suborbital fansite
• MySpace