Elastica

Stutter, a number 1 album and The Menace

Elastica formed in London in mid-1992 when two former members of Suede, Justine Frischmann on guitar and vocals and Justin Welch on drums, decided to start a band. Annie Holland on bass and Donna Matthews on lead guitar joined that autumn, early gigs were under names such as Onk, and Elastica was settled on in October 1992. Their debut single "Stutter" came out on November 1, 1993 on Deceptive, the label run by the BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq, who also promoted it. "Line Up" (January 31, 1994) and "Connection" (October 10, 1994) were UK top 20 singles.

Elastica (March 13, 1995) was recorded in 1994 at Konk studio in London, produced by Marc Waterman and the band. It went to number 1 in the UK, the fastest-selling debut since Oasis's Definitely Maybe, a record that stood until the Arctic Monkeys in 2006, reached 66 on the Billboard 200 and sold roughly a million worldwide by the end of 1995. They played Glastonbury and Lollapalooza that year, with four North American tours. Holland left in August 1995 citing exhaustion, and Sheila Chipperfield became permanent bassist in spring 1996. Dave Bush, formerly of the Fall, joined as keyboardist in 1996. Wire and the Stranglers both had out-of-court settlements over resemblances in the band's songs.

After long delays and line-up changes, Matthews left in late 1998, with Paul Jones and Sharon Mew joining and Holland returning. NME reported a first UK show in three years, a 40-minute set for about 200 people at Club Zone in Dingwall on July 23, 1999. The Elastica 6 Track EP followed in August 1999, they left Geffen that November for Atlantic, and The Menace (April 3, 2000), recorded in November 1996 and September and October 1999, reached 24 in the UK, with Mark E. Smith among the guests. Deceptive closed in February 2001, Atlantic dropped them, and in October 2001 the band announced an amicable end. The Radio One Sessions (October 29, 2001) and the single "The Bitch Don't Work" were their last releases. In January 2017 Matthews, Holland and Welch visited Abbey Road to remaster the debut with Sean McGee, for Record Store Day that April; a 2026 deluxe edition reached 32 on the Scottish albums chart.