Close Lobsters are a
Scottish indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
rock band.
History
Close Lobsters first came to wider prominence with the track "Firestation Towers" on the
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
's ''
C86
''C86'' is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine '' NME'' in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music g ...
'' compilation. They signed to
Fire Records
Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the la ...
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 strengthened their reputation as one of the leading emerging indie bands.
[Strong, Martin C.: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, ] They went on to release two albums: ''Foxheads Stalk This Land'' was released in 1987 and ''Headache Rhetoric'' in 1989. ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
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."
Their popularity on
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
college radio stations led to an invitation to the New York Music Seminar in 1989, which in turn led to an extensive American tour.
[Larkin, Colin: ''The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music'', Guinness Publishing, 1992, p. 64, ] They toured extensively in the UK, Germany, United States and Canada. The band eventually took an extended break.
Their 'best of' singles
compilation album, ''Forever, Until Victory!'', (the title is from the reputed last sign-off in a letter from Ernesto 'Che' Guevara to Fidel Castro; 'Hasta la victoria siempre!') was released on 5 October 2009 on Fire Records.
Close Lobsters's song "Let's Make Some Plans" was covered by the
Wedding Present on the B-side of their "California" single in 1992.
In March 2012, Close Lobsters reformed to play the second Madrid Popfest, Glasgow, third Popfest Berlin and the 2013 NYC Popfest.
In May 2014, Close Lobsters played the Copenhagen Popfest and released new EP, "Kunstwerk in Spacetime". Lead single "Now Time" received significant attention, and the band hinted at more new music to come in an interview with Sound.wav Music in July 2014.
Close Lobsters's song "Let's Make Some Plans" was covered by The Luxembourg Signal on the B-side of their "Laura Palmer" single in 2017.
In February 2020, the band released their latest album, ''Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols''. It is their first new studio recording for over 30 years, and
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
noted "From the first strains of album opener "All Compasses Go Wild," it's uncanny how seamlessly the Lobsters pick up right where they left off".
Discography
Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...
.
Singles and EPs
*"Going To Heaven To See If It Rains" (1986, Fire) (No. 9)
*"Never Seen Before" (1987, Fire) (No. 11)
*"Let's Make Some Plans" (1987, Fire) (No. 17)
*"What Is There To Smile About?" (1988, Fire) (No. 17)
*"Evening Show Sessions" (1988, Night Tracks)
*"Nature Thing" (1989, Fire)
*"Just Too Bloody Stupid" (1989, Caff)
*"Steel Love/ Head Above Water" (2012, Firestation Records)
*"Kunstwerk in Spacetime" EP (2014, Shelflife Records)
*"Desire and Signs" EP (2016, Shelflife Records)
Albums
*''
Foxheads Stalk This Land'' (1987, Fire) (No. 12)
*''Headache Rhetoric'' (1989, Fire) (No. 7)
*''Forever Until Victory'' (2009, Fire)
*''Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols'' (2020, Last Night From Glasgow)
References
External links
Close Lobsters interview on Sound.wav MusicClose Lobsters at Fire Records
{{Authority control
Scottish pop music groups
Scottish rock music groups
Jangle pop groups
British indie pop groups
Scottish indie rock groups
Fire Records (UK) artists