''... Because I Can'' is the first (and only) studio album by

Mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

, and released through the Permanent Records label. Although a second album, '' New And Improved'', was released, this was not a new album but rather an extended re-issue, released through the Jamtart label.

History of Mice

Mice were formed in 1995 by (then) ex-

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does ...

lead singer

Julianne Regan Julie-Ann "Julianne" Regan (born 30 June 1962) is an English-Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. She achieved success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the lead singer of the band All About Eve. AllMusic describes Regan as "certainly on ...

and ex-Powder bassist Tim McTighe. The band also featured former

Levitation Levitation (from Latin ''levitas'' "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft in a stable position, without mechanical support via any physical contact. Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteracts ...

guitarist

Christian Hayes Christian David "Bic" Hayes (born 10 June 1964) is an English rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. Best known as the frontman of Dark Star and guitarist with Levitation, he has also released solo material as Mikrokosmos, which was produced b ...

(aka Bic), as well as (ex-

) drummer Mark Price (at that point in time, Regan's brother-in-law). As well as these permanent members,

also featured many collaborations, including other former members of

Marty Willson-Piper Marty Willson-Piper (born 7 May 1958) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter best known as a former long-time member of the Australian psychedelic rock band The Church. He joined in 1980 after seeing an early gig where they were perform ...

and

Andy Cousin Andrew Cousin (born 28 June 1963 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire) is an English bassist and radio presenter from Huddersfield in England. He is principally known for being the bassist of All About Eve: he has also played for The Mission. Since 2016 ...

. Mice released their first single "Mat's Prozac" in November 1995, a second single "The Milkman" in early 1996, a third and final single "Dear Sir" in July, and this album in August of that year. The band also extensively toured the country during 1996 with Dominic Luckman on drums, Dave Woodman on guitar and Ali Kane playing keyboards. Permanent Records went bankrupt in 1997 owing the band money, and the album (despite having made the Indie Top 10 in the UK) and its singles were left hanging in the shops without replacement or support. Mice disbanded shortly afterwards.

Versions

Two versions of this album exist - a standard one disc version and a special edition two disc version, the second disc containing four songs from a

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

session. Personnel on BBC Radio 1 session: Guitars: Dave Woodman; Julianne Regan; Marty Wilson-Piper. Keyboards: Ali Kane. Bass: Tim McTighe. Drums: Dominic Luckman. At approx 2:14 on the live version of Blue Sonic Boy (song 3) Marty Wilson-Piper broke a string during the recording.

Track listing

#"Mat's Prozac" #"Star" #"Dear Sir" #"Bang Bang" #"The Milkman" #"Blue Sonic Boy" #"Julie Christie" #"Miss World" #"Trumpet Song" #"Battersea" #"Messed Up" On the special edition version, disc two contained live recordings of: #"The Milkman" #"Mat's Prozac" #"Blue Sonic Boy" #"Dear Sir"

Notes

The band were originally going to be called The Innocent, until a late change. However, by this stage Permanent Records had got slightly confused, and thought the album was being called ''The Innocent'' instead. Some promo copies of the "Mat's Prozac" single stated the forthcoming album to be ''The Innocent'' instead of ''... Because I Can''. "Battersea" was a left-over demo that would have found its way onto the fifth All About Eve studio album had not the group disbanded in 1993. However, since the 1999 reformation of

, it has never been played as an All About Eve song.

References

{{Authority control 1996 debut albums Mice (band) albums