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Biography
For|the theory relating to large scale deformations of elastic structures|Elastica TheoryInfobox musical artist| name = Elastica| image = ElasticaBand.png|300px| background = group_or_band| origin = London , England| genre = Britpop , alternative rock , punk rock , post-punk , indie rock | years_active = 1992–2001| label = Deceptive Records|Deceptive , Geffen Records|DGC , Atlantic Records|Atlantic , Wichita Recordings|Wichita | associated_acts = Suede (band)|Suede Me Me Me Spitfire (UK band)|Spitfire | website =| current_members =| past_members = Justine Frischmann Annie Holland Justin Welch Donna Matthews David Bush Sheila Chipperfield Paul Jones Sharon Mew Elastica were an English alternative rock band that played punk rock and new wave -influenced music.cite web | url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p5255|pure_url=yes | title=Elastica > Biography | accessdate=2012-02-02 | author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas | publisher=Allmusic They were best known for their 1995 album Elastica (album)|Elastica , which produced single (music)|singles that charted in the United States|US and the United Kingdom|UK .
History
In mid 1992 ex- Suede (band)|Suede band members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch decided to form a group. By the autumn of that year, bassist Annie Holland and guitarist Donna Matthews were added. After initially gigging under names such as "Onk", the band settled on the name "Elastica" in October 1992. Elastica released their first single, " Stutter (Elastica song)|Stutter ," in October 1993, which benefited from the promotional efforts of BBC Radio 1 Disc jockey|DJ and Deceptive Records record label|label boss Steve Lamacq , who had discovered the band earlier in the year. In 1994, Elastica released two UK Top 40|Top 20 singles (" Line Up (song)|Line Up " and " Connection (Elastica song)|Connection ") and performed on numerous radio station|radio shows. In addition, Frischmann's relationship with Blur (band)|Blur frontman Damon Albarn made tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid headlines.cite book | first= Martin C. | last= Strong | year= 2000 | title= The Great Rock Discography | edition= 5th | publisher= Mojo Books | location= Edinburgh | pages= 312–313 | isbn= 1-84195-017-3
Elastica's first LP, Elastica (album)|Elastica , was released in March 1995, and entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1; it became the fastest-selling debut album in UK history at the time. The album was preceded by their fourth single " Waking Up (song)|Waking Up " which went to No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart , their highest placing therein.
The band became subject to controversy when several bands sued them for plagiarism . Specifically, the post-punk band Wire (band)|Wire (who Elastica counted as one of their main influences) claimed that many of the band's melodies were taken from Wire compositions, as well as by The Stranglers . Notably, Wire's "I Am the Fly" has a chorus similar to Elastica's "Line Up" and the intro synthesizer part in Elastica's "Connection" (later also repeated on guitar) is lifted from the guitar riff in Wire's "Three Girl Rhumba" and transposed a semitone, and The Stranglers also passed comment that Elastica's "Waking Up" bore a marked resemblance to their song No More Heroes (The Stranglers song)|"No More Heroes" . The judgment resulted in out-of-court settlements.cite web| title = Artist Profile Elastica | url = http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/artist_profile/elastica.htm| accessdate = 11 May 2009
In the US, "Connection" and "Stutter" received airplay on modern rock radio and also both charted on the pop music|pop charts, as did their debut album (which was later certified music recording sales certification|gold ). After performing at the 1995 Glastonbury Festival , the band joined the Lollapalooza tour continuing an almost solid year of constant gigs. Citing exhaustion, original bassist Annie Holland quit the band in early August 1995 and was replaced for the remainder of the tour by session bassist Abby Travis . Holland was not permanently replaced until the arrival of Sheila Chipperfield in the spring of 1996. Also around this time keyboardist David Bush (ex- The Fall (band)|The Fall ) was added to the line-up.
After playing more shows and demoing new material in the first half of 1996, Elastica entered the studio in the later part of the year to begin work on their second album. By late 1998 Matthews had left the band. She was replaced by guitarist Paul Jones and keyboardist Sharon Mew. Also around this time Chipperfield was replaced with a returning Annie Holland.
As a tribute to the "lost years" of the band, a self-titled six-track EP appeared in August 1999, collecting a variety of recordings from a multitude of aborted sessions. This EP marked the first new material from the band in over four years. After re-recording most of these songs in mid 1999, along with new compositions, the band played their first set of shows in years. Their second proper album, The Menace , was released in April 2000. After the release of the farewell single "The Bitch Don't Work" in 2001, the band announced their amicable break-up.
According to a Mojo (magazine)|Mojo article on Elastica in 2009, Frischmann emigrated to Colorado to study visual arts and psychology. She is married and lives and works in California's Bay Area .cite web | url= http://www.spinmag.com/gallery/spins-where-are-they-now? page=1 | title = Spin's Where Are They Now? : Justine Frischmann | date=2010-02-26 | accessdate=2010-03-14 Mathews is a pastor in Totnes and according to a recent BBC 6 show has been linked romantically to Lawrence Chandler of Bowery Electric . Holland lives in Brighton . Welch and Mew are married and live in Devon . Jones is the A& R man at Rough Trade joining after managing his Slogan label, which released The Fall (band)|The Fall 's Fall Heads Roll . His latest signing is Warpaint (band)|Warpaint .
Members
Official members
Justine Frischmann - Singing|vocals and guitar
Donna Matthews - guitar and vocals (1992–1998)
Annie Holland - bass guitar|bass (1992–1995, 1999–2001)
Justin Welch - Drum kit|drums
David Bush - Keyboard instrument|keyboards (1996–2001)
Damon Albarn - keyboards (1995, 1999) (credited under the anagrammatical pseudonyms "Dan Abnormal" on Elastica (album)|Elastica and as "Norman Balda" on The Menace )
British Phonographic Industry|UK : Goldcite web | title = Search for 'Elastica' | url = http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/Search.aspx | publisher = British Phonographic Industry |accessdate=02 October 2010
CRIA|CAN : Goldcite web | title = Canadian Certificates | url = http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php | publisher = CRIA |accessdate=22 February 2009
RIAA|US : Goldcite web | title = US Certificates | url = http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php? table=SEARCH | publisher = RIAA |accessdate=22 February 2009
2000
The Menace
Released: 3 April 2000
Label: Deceptive/ Atlantic Records|Atlantic
24
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Compilations/EPs
Elastica 6 Track EP (23 August 1999)
Elastica Radio One Sessions|The Radio One Sessions (29 October 2001)
Singles
Year
Song
Peak chart positions
Album
UK
CAN cite web
CAN Alt cite web
US cite web
US Mod
US Main
1993
Stutter "
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4ref
67ref
10ref
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Elastica
1994
Line Up "
20
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Connection "
17
9
11
53
2
40
1995
Waking Up "
13
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Car Song "
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14
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33
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1999
"How He Wrote Elastica Man"
123
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6 Track EP
2000
"Mad Dog God Dam"
44
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The Menace
2001
"The Bitch Don't Work"
87
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Non-album single
:1.note|aDid not chart until 1995.
References
Reflist
External links
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p44835
Elastica Category:Musical groups established in 1992 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Category:English rock music groups Category:Britpop groups
