Veronica Falls

Doom-laden and romantic

Veronica Falls formed in London in 2009. Roxanne Clifford and Patrick Doyle had moved from Glasgow, where they played in Sexy Kids and the Royal We, and met James Hoare, formerly of Your Twenties, through a mutual friend (Wikipedia and Vice say at a Comet Gain show). Marion Herbain, a friend, learned bass in weeks to join. Vice in 2011 placed them in the mid-80s British lo-fi and C86 tradition, doom-laden, romantic, tragic, and they cite the Velvet Underground; critics called them twee and goth. The line-up never changed.

"Found Love in a Graveyard" came out on February 9, 2010 on Captured Tracks, and "Beachy Head" on No Pain in Pop on June 14, 2010, the month they toured with Teenage Fanclub. The self-titled debut (September 20, 2011, Slumberland and Bella Union) was recorded twice; the first session lacked excitement and spontaneity, and the second took three days at Smokehouse in Wapping, per the Line of Best Fit and Vice. It reached 150 in the UK. Waiting for Something to Happen (February 2013), co-produced by Rory Attwell, was more introspective with more complex vocal arrangements, Hoare said, and Treble called the band an unstoppable indie rock force while criticizing the simplified drumming.

The members turned to other projects by 2014: Hoare to the Proper Ornaments and Ultimate Painting, Doyle to Boys Forever and Basic Plumbing, and Clifford to Patience. Patrick Doyle died on March 4, 2018, aged 32. A 15th anniversary reissue of the debut was announced on September 17, 2026 with the single "Starry Eyes", due in late November, with proceeds supporting the Los Angeles LGBT Center in his honor.