hypersongs

Spacemen 3

The Rugby neo-psychedelic band of Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, whose November 1986 single "Walkin' with Jesus (Sound of Confusion)" reached the UK indie top 30.

Rugby

Peter Kember, who played as Sonic Boom, and Jason Pierce, who played as J Spaceman, met at Rugby Art College in 1982 and formed the band as the Spacemen with Tim Morris on drums and Pete Bain on bass. Late in 1983 Pierce moved to Maidstone for art school, Bain and Morris left and Natty Brooker joined on drums, and the trio was renamed Spacemen 3 in early 1984. Kember and Pierce were the only members common to all line-ups. Demos made in a home studio became a 1984 cassette, and demos made in Northampton in January 1986, with Bain back on bass, were later issued unofficially as Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To (1990). In early 1986 they signed a three-year, two-album deal with Glass Records.

Sound of Confusion came out on Glass in July 1986, recorded over five days at Bob Lamb's studio in Birmingham, known as the Home of the Hits; Kember complained in the fanzine Outer Limits that Lamb had no affinity with their type of music. The album is self-produced and mixes originals with covers of the 13th Floor Elevators, the Stooges and Juicy Lucy. AllMusic gave it 3 stars and PopMatters's Ian Mathers 8 out of 10 in 2013. The Perfect Prescription followed in September 1987 (UK indie 13), recorded at VHF Studios in Rugby, and Pitchfork gave it 9.6 and ranked it 50th among its 1980s albums.

Fire and the end

They moved to Fire Records in summer 1988, released Playing with Fire (February 27, 1989, number one on the UK indie chart), and played their last show at the Reading Festival on August 25, 1989. Tension between Kember and Pierce grew that autumn; in early 1990 Pierce formed Spiritualized with Carruthers, Jonny Mattock and Mark Refoy, and Kember declared the band over that June. Recurring (February 1991, UK 46) was released with one side by each. Brooker died on April 18, 2014; a reunion benefit show for him was held in London on July 15, 2010.

Wikipedia describes them as one of the most influential UK underground guitar bands. A 1998 tribute album had Mogwai, Low and Bardo Pond, and Erik Morse's 2004 biography is Spacemen 3 and the Birth of Spiritualized. Kember went on to Spectrum and production work for MGMT, Panda Bear and Beach House.

Albums

Songs

  • Walkin' with Jesus (Sound of Confusion) Walkin' with Jesus (Sound of Confusion) · 1986

    The November 1986 single that the band first tried during the Sound of Confusion sessions and later remade for The Perfect Prescription.

Sources

  1. Spacemen 3, Wikipedia
  2. Sound of Confusion, Wikipedia
  3. Sound of Confusion, Spacemen 3
  4. The recordings that tore Spacemen 3 apart, Far Out