Flipron are an English

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording, ...

band from

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 ...

, England, consisting of singer and songwriter Jesse Budd, pianist/organist Joe Atkinson, drummer Mike Chitty and bassist Tom Granville. They were signed to

Tiny Dog Records Tiny Dog Records is a British-based independent record label, located in Shropshire, England. Background Founded in 1999, they have released original material by Flipron, Scott 4, Magic Car, The Billy Shinbone Show and The Rhynes. Flipron is ...

in 2003.Their music has been likened to

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...

and

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

2004/5: ''Fancy Blues and Rustique Novelties''

The first album was recorded in Glastonbury and released in 2004. The ''

Observer Music Monthly ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' magazine put it at number 6 in their 50 albums of the month for October with

Charles Shaar Murray Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the '' New Musical Express'' and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of ...

giving it a four star review. In July 2004 they recorded their first live session for

Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

. As part of the tour to promote the album, Flipron appeared as support act for

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

(for whom Flipron's Joe Atkinson was playing keyboards) at Cardiff St David's Hall and Bristol's St George's Hall. Two singles were released from the album; "Hanging Round The Lean-to With Grandad" and "Raindrops Keep Falling on the Dead/The End of Summer".Tiny Dog Records website The latter featured an animated black and white video made by American director

Alex de Campi Alex de Campi is a British-American music video director, comics writer and columnist. Career Comics Alex de Campi wrote 2005's mini-series ''Smoke'' (published by IDW Publishing, art by Igor Kordey), which was nominated for the Eisner Award ...

2006/7: ''Biscuits For Cerberus''

The second album, ''Biscuits For Cerberus'' was mainly recorded at drummer Mike Chitty's house and released in 2006. The

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

described it as a "woozy, bohemian pop massacre. Brilliant, but frankly unclassifiable." In March 2006, they appeared at The Spice of Life in London with

Rat Scabies Christopher John Millar (born 30 July 1955), known by his stage name Rat Scabies, is a musician best known as the drummer for English punk rock band the Damned. Career Millar was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. He played drums with Tor ...

performing The Damned hit "

Smash It Up "Smash It Up" is a song by English punk rock band the Damned, released as a single on 12 October 1979 by Chiswick Records. It is considered the band's unofficial anthem. The single was the second release from the band's third studio ''Machine ...

", which was recorded by

for their ''Pretty Ancient'' event (celebrating thirty years of

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

). A single, "Dogboy Vs Monsters" was released in early 2007 and featured a silent movie

pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...

video, again directed by Alex de Campi. Shortly after the recording of ''Biscuits For Cerberus'', bassist Mark Wingfield left the band and Greg Shepheard who had engineered the first two albums joined.

2008/9: ''Gravity Calling''

The third album, ''Gravity Calling'', was recorded at

Chris Jagger Christopher Jagger (born 19 December 1947) is an English musician. He is the younger brother of wikt:rockstar, rock star Mick Jagger, frontman for the Rolling Stones. Early life, family and education Jagger was born into a middle-class family ...

's Somerset studio with former Damned drummer

producing. Q described it as sounding like a "more ramshackle Madness" and added the song "How It Works" to their 50 essential download list in their January 2009 issue August 2008 saw them appearing at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

for five nights at the

Gilded Balloon Gilded Balloon is a producer and promoter of live entertainment events, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and best known as one of the Big Four venue operators at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe each August. The company has its origins in a venue kn ...

. On 31 October 2008, they returned to BBC 6 Music for another live session for Tom Robinson. In November 2008, they embarked on a co-headlining UK tour with Birmingham's

Misty's Big Adventure Misty's Big Adventure are an English eight-piece band from Birmingham. Their music is an eclectic mix of jazz, lounge, psychedelia, 2 tone, pop and punk. The band is composed of singer and sole songwriter Grandmaster Gareth (real name Gareth J ...

and they toured again in spring 2009 with Mark Wingfield returning on bass. Two singles were released from the album, "Book of Lies" and the title track. In May 2009, they recorded a session for

Mark Lamarr Mark Lamarr (born Mark Jones, 7 January 1967) is an English comedian, writer, radio DJ, and television presenter. He was a team captain on '' Shooting Stars'' from 1995 to 1997, and hosted ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' from 1996 to 2005. Early li ...

God's Jukebox In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

show on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

(which was repeated on Lamarr's ''Best of 2009'' show in January 2010). A range of vintage equipment was used in the recording of ''Gravity Calling'' and was featured in ''Guitar & Bass Magazine's'' January 2009 edition with interviews with Jesse Budd, Rat Scabies and Flipron manager, Phil Taylor (who also managed Bobby Long).

2010/11: ''The Coolest Names in Showbiz'' and US tour

A new single, the

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

flavoured "The Coolest Names in Showbiz", again produced by Rat Scabies, was released in July 2010. The song made its live debut at the Bath

Komedia Komedia is an arts and entertainment company which operates venues in the United Kingdom at Brighton and Bath, and a management and production company Komedia Entertainment. Beyond hosting live comedy, the venues also host music, cabaret, thea ...

supporting The (English) Beat. In August 2010, Flipron returned to the Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this time for a nine-night residency. In September 2010, they toured the US for the first time with John Thompson (who also plays with the current line up of

The Selecter The Selecter are an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979. The Selecter featured a diverse line-up, both in terms of race and gender, initially consisting of Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson and Pauline Black on lead vo ...

) on bass and returned to the US in March 2011 to appear at the

South By Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

festival in Austin, Texas. The single "The Stupidest Face in Town" was released in June 2011. From 2010 to 2011 live bass duties were shared by John Thompson and Nick Walkling. Tom Granville joined as a permanent member in August 2011.

2012/13: ''Firework Shoes''

In 2012 they recorded their fourth album, ''Firework Shoes''. As with ''Gravity Calling'',

produced the album and David M Allen mixed it, and here backing vocals were supplied by Liz Gilbert. A new single, "The Comet Returns", featuring

The Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English Two-tone (music genre), 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall (singer), Terr ...

singer

Neville Staple Neville Eugenton Staple (born 11 April 1955), sometimes credited as Neville Staples, is a Jamaican-born English singer, known for his work with the 2 Tone ska band the Specials, as well as with his own group, the Neville Staple Band. He also per ...

was released in September 2012. The video for the song was filmed in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

at the recently opened Two Tone Village. ''Firework Shoes'' was released on 5 November 2012 receiving a 4/5 review in ''

The Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' by its editor Martin Townsend who likened the band to Madness, Squeeze and

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...

In October 2013 "Big Fat Blackberries" from ''Firework Shoes'' was released as a single. In December 2013, "The Comet Returns" from ''Firework Shoes'' was used by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

as the backing music on their trailer to advertise the Christmas Eve Special of cult TV comedy show, ''

The IT Crowd ''The IT Crowd'' is a British sitcom originally broadcast by Channel 4, written and directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry. Set in the offices of the fict ...

''.

2014/18

The band kept a low profile in 2014 with Jesse Budd writing and often performing live as his alter ego "Billy Shinbone" in his side project The Billy Shinbone Show. Budd also joined bandmate Joe Atkinson on tour in the

Band. Bass player Tom Granville often performs in Nick Parker and the False Alarms. Flipron appeared at Chagstock in 2014 and the Glastonbury Festival in both 2014 and 2015 (Avalon Café and Bandstand Stages) Also in 2015 the Flipron track "Hungamunga" was used on the "Couples" show on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. In 2016 Jesse Budd released a solo single on

"If You Think You'll Get Away With It You're Wrong" under the pseudonym The Billy Shinbone Show. In 2017 Flipron played again at Glastonbury Festival & travelled to Italy to play at the Artisti In Piazza festival in

Pennabilli Pennabilli ( rgn, La Pénna) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about south of Rimini. In 2019, the podcast '' This is Love'' spoke with Anna Bona ...

. In 2018 both Jesse Budd and Joe Atkinson continue to perform in the

Band. In January of that year the band organised a charity show in their hometown of Glastonbury featuring Flipron and The Neville Staple Band in aid of the mental health charity

MIND The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

. Jesse Budd also co wrote and sang lead vocal on two songs of

debut solo album "PHD-Prison, Hospital, Debt" released by

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...

and Joe Atkinson also played keyboards on two different tracks of the same album. On July 6 Budd released an eponymous solo album under The Billy Shinbone Show name again on

again. It also features contributions from Flipron members Tom Granville and Mike Chitty (under the pseudonym Micky Van Dango)

2019/20

2019 saw Flipron playing a few shows in their local South West area, with their Glastonbury Festival appearance that year being cancelled at the last minute for health and safety reasons after the roof of the Bandstand Stage was dislodged by the wind. In 2020 another collaboration with

was released. The duo of Scabies and Jesse Budd (using the name Billy Shinbone) released the instrumental album "Sparkle" under the name The Sinclairs. The album was again released on

. Its sound was described by www.tinnitist.com as being reminiscent of "classic surf movies, spaghetti westerns, and ‘60s spy movies.” During the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

, Flipron released a lockdown video, filmed and recorded on their phones of the song "Ball and Chain" which was originally released on their 2006 album, "Biscuits For Cerberus".

2021

In May 2021, Joe Atkinson's side project, The Rhynes, released their self-titled debut album on Tiny Dog Records. Atkinson sang and played guitars, bass and keyboards with

and Matty Bane from the

Band on drums.

References

External links

Official siteMyspace site
{{Authority control English pop music groups