Absentee are a band from London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, signed to Memphis Industries

Memphis Industries

Memphis Industries is a British independent record label.Memphis Industries was established as a record label in 1998 by the brothers Ollie and Matt Jacob with the first release being Blue States' Forever EP...

. They are Dan Michaelson (vocals/guitar), Melinda Bronstein (vocals, keyboards

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

, melodica

Melodica

The melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole,...

, glockenspiel

Glockenspiel

A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...

), Babak Ganjei (guitar/lap steel), Laurie Earle (bass) and Che Albrighton (drums).

Career

Before forming the band, Michaelson and Bronstein collaborated to make the self-produced mini-album Hawaiian Disco. Five songs from that mini-album, and other unreleased material was used in the 2003 film Twisted, shown in the Raindance Film Festival

Raindance Film Festival

Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates from various cities including: London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin and Brussels...

.

Later in 2010, the band contributed a song to Missed Connections, a short film which is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

.

The band have had two previous major releases. Donkey Stock in 2005 was a six track EP, which helped get the band noticed. In 2006, the band released the album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, Schmotime

Schmotime

Schmotime is the debut album by indie rock band Absentee and was released on May 8, 2006.-Track listing:# "More Troubles"# "We Should Never Have Children"# "Getaway"# "Hey Tramp"# "You Try Sober"# "There's A Body In A Car Somewhere"# "Weasel"...

, which was well received by the music press, including a 7.1 Pitchfork

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 rating. Much was made of the up-beat nature of the songs, in stark contrast to the morbid nature of the lyrics

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

.

The album Schmotime was produced by James Ford

James Ford

James Ford may refer to:*James A. Ford, American archaeologist*James Ford , benefactor of the Ford Lectures at Oxford University*James Ford , cricketer*James Ford , American newsreader and journalist for WPIX...

, of Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...

 and Mystery Jets

Mystery Jets

Mystery Jets are an English five-piece indie band, formerly based on Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, London. The band was formed by Henry Harrison , Blaine Harrison and William Rees when the boys were still at school and would send each other songs on cassettes...

 fame.

They toured with Magic Numbers, Brakes

Brakes (band)

Brakes is a four member band from Brighton, England. The group formed in 2003. It consists of Eamon Hamilton , Thomas White , Marc Beatty , and Alex White .-Biography:Brakes formed in 2003, when Thomas White and Alex White of The Electric Soft Parade saw Eamon Hamilton perform...

, Broken Family Band, Bloc Party

Bloc Party

Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...

 and Silver Jews

Silver Jews

Silver Jews was an indie rock band from New York City, formed in 1989 by David Berman along with Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. Berman remained throughout and was the only constant member. During the last few albums, Cassie Berman became a regular member of the band...

.

When not recording and touring with Absentee, all the band members have side projects. Michaelson has Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards, Babak, Melinda and Laurie have Wet Paint and Melinda has The Bronsteins.

Singles

• 2006 "Something to Bang" #180 UK
• 2006 "Weasel"
• 2006 "We Should Never Have Children"
• 2006 "There's A Body In A Car Somewhere"
• 2008 "Boy, Did She Teach You Nothing?"

External links

• Official website
• Absentee at memphis-industries.com
• Absentee at Crossthepond Music
• Review of Donkey Stock EP at PopMatters.com
• Interview with Absentee at SoundsXP
• Review of Absentee's Donkey Stock by James Jam at NME
  NME
  The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
  
  
• Jelbert, Steve, "Something to bang on about", Times Online
  The Times
  The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
  
  , February 25, 2006.
• Jelbert, Steve, "Absentee : Donkey Stock -- East London countryists' lugubrious wonder", Times Online
  The Times
  The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
  
  
• [ Absentee] at Allmusic