Close Lobsters
Encyclopedia
Close Lobsters are a Scottish
indie pop
/rock band. They first came to wider prominence with the track "Firestation Towers" on the NME
's C86
compilation, they signed to Fire Records
and released their debut single "Going To Heaven To See If It Rains" in October 1986. They released a second single "Never Seen Before" in April 1987 which furthered their reputation as one of the leading emerging indie bands. They went on to release two albums; Foxheads Stalk This Land was released in 1987 and Headache Rhetoric in 1989. Their popularity on United States
college radio stations led to an invitation to the New York Music Seminar in 1989, which in turn led to an extensive American tour.
they toured relentlessly in the UK, Germany and the United States of America and Canada. After that things became very hazy indeed.
The band eventually took an extended interlude/break to reflect on a combination of creative crossvergences about critical acclaim in America. Rolling Stone
s review of "Foxheads Stalk This Land" called it "first-rate guitar pop from a top-shelf band. Close Lobsters could have been just another jangle group, but they have a lot more going for them than just chiming Rickenbackers."
This is their story according to the 'Best of' Singles retropsective release, Forever, Until Victory!; The title is a tribute taken from the reputed last sign-off in a letter from Ernesto 'Che' Guevara to Fidel Castro 'Hasta la victoria siempre!' and was released on 5 October 2009 on Fire Records....
There once was a storm of sticks and stones and this barrage was to become a lodestar. If eternity is the sea mingled with the sun as a young French poet once intimated, then unrelenting group disorder defines the everyday and mundane. Close Lobsters shimmer like the sun mingling with the sea, their sound is a storm of stones and sticks and half bricks and the barrage comes in chains of flashing images. Close Lobsters epitomise the very imperfect nature of things - unrelenting group disorder. Close Lobsters\\' sound radiates across star-crossed skies. Close Lobsters are alive. The songs in this collection come in lines and chains of flashing images. The singles were marshalled and brought together, collected if you will, in summer 2008 and now radiate again across star-crossed skies. The collection is entitled \\'FOREVER, UNTIL VICTORY!\\' in honour of not only the songs and the group, but the late Ernesto \\'Che\\' Guevara whose words they are. The tracks were re-assembled and re-engineered by Andrew Burnett and Graeme Wilmington in summer 2008 in the environs of Glasgow and Paisley - at the epicentre of the Close Lobsters universe. Close Lobsters are alive. The leitmotif of this collection is aphoristic - Be Bold and Mighty Forces will Come to your Aid.
The Close Lobsters song "Let's Make Some Plans" was covered by the Wedding Present on the b-side of the "California" single in 1992.
Graeme Wilmington now works as an Audio Technology lecturer at Stow College, Glasgow.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
/rock band. They first came to wider prominence with the track "Firestation Towers" on the 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...
's C86
C86 (music)
C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from independent labels of the time. As a phrase, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based musical genre characterised by "jangly" guitars and fey melodies, although other...
compilation, they signed to Fire Records
Fire Records (UK)
Fire Records is an independent record label in London, England. The label was founded by Clive Solomon in 1986 and is currently run by James Nicholls.-Current roster:*Giant Sand*Guided By Voices*Howe Gelb*Josephine Foster*Wooden Wand*Bobby Conn...
and released their debut single "Going To Heaven To See If It Rains" in October 1986. They released a second single "Never Seen Before" in April 1987 which furthered their reputation as one of the leading emerging indie bands. They went on to release two albums; Foxheads Stalk This Land was released in 1987 and Headache Rhetoric in 1989. Their popularity on United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
college radio stations led to an invitation to the New York Music Seminar in 1989, which in turn led to an extensive American tour.
they toured relentlessly in the UK, Germany and the United States of America and Canada. After that things became very hazy indeed.
The band eventually took an extended interlude/break to reflect on a combination of creative crossvergences about critical acclaim in America. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s review of "Foxheads Stalk This Land" called it "first-rate guitar pop from a top-shelf band. Close Lobsters could have been just another jangle group, but they have a lot more going for them than just chiming Rickenbackers."
This is their story according to the 'Best of' Singles retropsective release, Forever, Until Victory!; The title is a tribute taken from the reputed last sign-off in a letter from Ernesto 'Che' Guevara to Fidel Castro 'Hasta la victoria siempre!' and was released on 5 October 2009 on Fire Records....
There once was a storm of sticks and stones and this barrage was to become a lodestar. If eternity is the sea mingled with the sun as a young French poet once intimated, then unrelenting group disorder defines the everyday and mundane. Close Lobsters shimmer like the sun mingling with the sea, their sound is a storm of stones and sticks and half bricks and the barrage comes in chains of flashing images. Close Lobsters epitomise the very imperfect nature of things - unrelenting group disorder. Close Lobsters\\' sound radiates across star-crossed skies. Close Lobsters are alive. The songs in this collection come in lines and chains of flashing images. The singles were marshalled and brought together, collected if you will, in summer 2008 and now radiate again across star-crossed skies. The collection is entitled \\'FOREVER, UNTIL VICTORY!\\' in honour of not only the songs and the group, but the late Ernesto \\'Che\\' Guevara whose words they are. The tracks were re-assembled and re-engineered by Andrew Burnett and Graeme Wilmington in summer 2008 in the environs of Glasgow and Paisley - at the epicentre of the Close Lobsters universe. Close Lobsters are alive. The leitmotif of this collection is aphoristic - Be Bold and Mighty Forces will Come to your Aid.
The Close Lobsters song "Let's Make Some Plans" was covered by the Wedding Present on the b-side of the "California" single in 1992.
Graeme Wilmington now works as an Audio Technology lecturer at Stow College, Glasgow.
Singles/EPs
- "Going To Heaven To See If It Rains" (1986, Fire) (#9)
- "Never Seen Before" (1987, Fire) (#11)
- "Let's Make Some Plans" (1987, Fire) (#17)
- "What Is There To Smile About?" (1988, Fire) (#17)
- Evening Show Sessions (1988, Night Tracks)
- "Nature Thing" (1989, Fire)
- "Just Too Bloody Stupid" (1989, Caff)
Albums
- Foxheads Stalk This Land (1987, Fire) (#12)
- Headache Rhetoric (1989, Fire) (#7)
- Forever Until Victory (2009, Fire)