Drugstore are a London-based
alternative
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film
* ''The Alternative ...
and
dream pop
Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...
band, led by
Brazilian singer-songwriter and bassist Isabel Monteiro (born 9 September 1965, São Paulo, Brazil), formed with Dave Hunter (later replaced by Daron Robinson) on guitar and Mike Chylinski on drums.
The band's name is taken from the 1989
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician. He has earned acclaim as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultur ...
film ''
Drugstore Cowboy
''Drugstore Cowboy'' is a 1989 American crime drama film directed by the American filmmaker Gus Van Sant. Written by Van Sant and Daniel Yost and based on an autobiographical novel by James Fogle, the film stars Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, Heather ...
''.
Career
Formation and ''Drugstore'' (1993–1995)
The band was formed via a flat-share in East London, when Monteiro and American drummer Mike Chylinski met. They were joined by guitarist Dave Hunter and soon released their debut single, "Alive", on their own label Honey Records in 1993. The following year Hunter was replaced by Daron Robinson, and after only a handful of gigs, the band signed a major record deal with
Go! Discs
Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Sym ...
. Their debut album ''
Drugstore
A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacis ...
'' was released on 27 March 1995 and it reached number 31 in the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
. The following three years were spent touring with
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
,
Tindersticks
Tindersticks are an English alternative rock band formed in Nottingham in 1991. They released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples embarked on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006 and more permanently the following year. Th ...
,
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...
and
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they rele ...
, and playing at festivals such as
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
and
Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...
.
''White Magic for Lovers'', ''Songs for the Jetset'' and hiatus (1997–2002)
Following the sale of
Go! Discs
Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Sym ...
to
PolyGram
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
, the band signed to
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock bands. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City.
History
The label was launched in 1980 in t ...
and began work on their second album, ''
White Magic for Lovers
''White Magic for Lovers'' is the second studio album released by the London-based band Drugstore. It reached the UK albums chart at number 45. The album was noted for the "Song for Pessoa", about the Portuguese modernist poet Fernando Pessoa, ...
'', which was recorded at El Cortijo, in Spain, the music studio run by
Trevor Morais
Trevor Morais (born 10 October 1944) is an English drummer who has been a member of several notable groups such as Faron's Flamingos, Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, The Peddlers, Quantum Jump and the Elkie Brooks backing band. He is also a ses ...
,
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
's drummer. The album was released on 9 June 1998, peaking in the UK Chart at No. 45, and also landing the band their first top 20 hit single with "El President", a duet with
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describe ...
, a tribute to former Chilean president
Salvador Allende
Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...
,
who was ousted in a 1973
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
.
In 2000, the band signed to Global Warming Records and recorded their third album, ''
Songs for the Jet Set
''Songs for the Jet Set'' is the third studio album by the band Drugstore
A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which p ...
'', at Battery Studios in London. The track "Baby, Don't Hurt Yourself" featured
Lambchop's Paul Niehauss on pedal-steel. Whilst promoting the album, Monteiro decided to 'walk away from it all', and the band went into an eight-year hiatus. ''Drugstore Collector Number One'', a compilation of b-sides and outtakes, intended initially as a fan-only recording, was subsequently released commercially by the label in 2002.
Reformation and ''Anatomy'' (2009–present)
In September 2009, the band reappeared with a reunion gig at
Dingwalls
Dingwalls was a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden, London, England. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, ...
, London. Early in 2010, Monteiro announced a revamped line-up, and performed at the
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...
(ICA) in London, on 5 May 2010. The following summer the band performed at
Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
, for the charity 'Attitude is Everything', and at the
Secret Garden Party
The Secret Garden Party, often colloquially shortened to the SGP, is an independent arts and music festival which takes place in Abbots Ripton near Huntingdon in England. This location is on part of the grounds of a Georgian farmhouse and has its ...
Festival in Huntingdon.
In October 2010, Drugstore signed a one-off recording contract with the London-based indie label
Rocket Girl
Rocket Girl is a London-based independent record label. It has released records by Robin Guthrie, Pieter Nooten, God Is an Astronaut, Ulrich Schnauss, A Place to Bury Strangers, Bell Gardens (band), Bell Gardens among others, including many a ...
, and in 2011 the band's fourth album, ''Anatomy'', was released. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
said "The odds would have been long that, 18 years after their formation, they would reappear with some of their strongest material. Drugstore have been both placed at the dreamier end of the indie spectrum and compared with Leonard Cohen. Anatomy shows that there's more of an overlap there than one might have imagined".
In 2012 the band performed outside London for the first time in over a decade, with shows at the Trades Club, in
, a compilation of tracks spanning the band's career with a selection of songs from their previous four albums. The album was launched with a sold-out show at London's
nightclub Madame Jojo's.
In early 2015, Isabel Monteiro relocated to her hometown of São Paulo, Brazil, and with the help of local musicians, performed a string of selected dates.
Drugstore's music has been featured on four film soundtracks. "Superglider", from the album ''
'', and ''House of America'', both released in 1997. "Fader", also from ''Drugstore'', is featured on the credits of the 2000 film ''
''.
'', is used in the 2004 film ''East of Sunset''. The band's music was also featured throughout the BBC series ''
No. 31
* ''
No. 45
** includes "El President" – UK Single Charts No. 20
* ''