Flying Saucer Attack is an English

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

band formed in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 1992, led by songwriter David Pearce. Rachel Brook (now Rachel Coe) of Movietone was a member during the band's early incarnation; other musicians contributing to the group's recordings and live performances included Rocker (ex-

the Flatmates The Flatmates, part of the mid-1980s British indie pop boom, were part of The Subway Organization, a Bristol record label formed by Martin Whitehead. Whitehead is also guitarist and main songwriter for the band. History Following the group's ...

), Matt Elliott (aka the Third Eye Foundation) and Sam Jones (of

Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

). Drawing on krautrock,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

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 ...

, the group referred to their

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

sound as "rural

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

" and were associated with bands of the contemporary post-rock and shoegaze scenes. The band was able to create a small but enthusiastic fanbase, and were notable for recording most of their output at home, avoiding recording studios.

History

Pearce had previously been a member of Ha Ha Ha, releasing the ''Up and Down'' EP in 1985. He then formed Rosemary's Children, issuing the 1986 single "Southern Fields" and 1987 album ''Kings and Princes''. While at art school in Farnham, he met other Bristol musicians and played through the early 1990s as a member of various groups including the Secret Garden, the Distance and Linda’s Strange Vacation. Flying Saucer Attack formed in 1992 as a loose collective centered on the core of Pearce and Brook, releasing their debut single, "Soaring High", in January 1993 on their own FSA label. Their second single, "Wish", followed that June. Both singles were issued as limited edition vinyl 7-inches in handmade packaging. The group's first studio album (self-titled, but sometimes called ''Rural Psychedelia'' as those words appeared on the cover) was released in 1993, and included a noisy cover of

Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was firs ...

's contemporary single "

The Drowners "The Drowners" is the debut single of English rock band Suede, released on 11 May 1992 on Nude Records. It was later included on the band's debut album, ''Suede'' (1993). "The Drowners" charted at number 49 on the UK Singles Chart. Background T ...

", which provoked press interest in the record. Like the earlier singles, the album was released on FSA's own label by

Heartbeat Productions Heartbeat Productions is the parent company of a number of record labels originating from Bristol, England. Heartbeat Records was formed in 1978, and other labels have been added over the years to cater for specific niche markets or bands: Riot ...

, and was deliberately only made available on vinyl. The album was released in the United States by

VHF Records VHF Records is an American record label, known for their extensive work with several major experimental artists. The label is based in the Washington, DC suburb of Fairfax, Va., and it initially focused on indie and experimental bands from that reg ...

in early 1994, on CD and vinyl – the CD bore the legend "compact discs are a major cause of the breakdown of society" (other releases would carry messages such as "keep vinyl alive", "home taping is reinventing music" and "less is more"). The band then signed to

Domino Recording Company Domino Recording Company or simply Domino is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called Dom ...

. The first release for the new label was ''Distance'' (October 1994), which collected the early singles and some unreleased material. It was released in the US by VHF. A contemporaneous non-album single, "Land Beyond the Sun", was Flying Saucer Attack's first release on US label Drag City, who issued it on 25 September 1994, followed by a Domino release the following month. A second studio album, ''

Further Further or Furthur may refer to: * ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus * Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band * Furthur (band), a band formed in 2009 by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh * ''Further'' (The Chemical Brothers a ...

'', was released 17 April 1995, by Domino and Drag City. A cover of

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

's "Outdoor Miner" was released as a single that year. Another singles compilation followed, ''

Chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

'' on 20 November 1995, including a sleeve note stating that "this album marks the end of FSA phase one". In 1995, Brook left the band to concentrate on Movietone. A version of the folk song "Sally Free and Easy" was initially only released as a single on CD on 5 November 1996; the sleeve note explained that the pressing plant had been unable to cut it to vinyl (a US plant later achieved the feat by using a monaural master, and it was issued on 12" by Drag City). Full-length 1996 releases included ''In Search of Spaces'', an album consisting of early 1994 live tracks (mainly unstructured noise, released by Bruce Russell's Corpus Hermeticum imprint), and ''Distant Station'', an album with two long tracks constructed by fellow Domino act Tele:Funken from samples of the band. The three-song "Goodbye" EP, released 21 January 1997 on

, was a mix of old and new material; the second track, recorded live in April 1995, featured

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

guitarist

Roy Montgomery Roy Montgomery (born 1959) is a composer, guitarist and lecturer from Christchurch, New Zealand. Montgomery's mostly instrumental solo works have elements of post-rock, lo-fi, folk and avant-garde experimentation. His signature sound might be d ...

. ''New Lands'', Flying Saucer Attack's third studio album, was released in October 1997. The band described it as "phase two", but it did not depart from the usual mixture of aggressive feedback and noise, and gentle folk-influenced melody. After ''New Lands'' and a final vinyl-only 7" single, "Coming Home", both issued in 1997, Pearce left Domino. The "phase 2" version of Flying Saucer Attack accepted an invitation to participate in a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...

co-founder

Skip Spence Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence (April 18, 1946 – April 16, 1999) was a Canadian-born American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was co-founder of Moby Grape, and played guitar with them until 1969. In the same year, he released his only s ...

, who was dying of lung cancer. '' More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album'', featuring their cover of "Grey - Afro", was released by Birdman Records on 6 July 1999. Flying Saucer Attack's fourth studio album, ''

Mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the im ...

'', was released 17 January 2000 on FSA, effectively marking the end of the group for the next 15 years. Pearce subsequently collaborated with

Jessica Bailiff Jessica Bailiff is an American singer-songwriter from Toledo, Ohio. Her music is largely classified as slowcore, although it contains elements of post-rock and shoegaze. Bailiff was discovered by Low's Alan Sparhawk, who recommended her ear ...

under the name Clear Horizon; the duo released an eponymous album on Kranky in 2003. The only new material released by the band during their sabbatical came in 2008, when Flying Saucer Attack participated in a two-disc

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 ...

compilation setting all 36 poems from

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's 1907 '' Chamber Music'' poetry collection to music by contemporary alternative acts. After a 15-year hiatus, Flying Saucer Attack released a new album, ''Instrumentals 2015'', on 17 July 2015.

Musical style

Their musical style has been described as

, post-rock, shoegaze, and

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

Flying Saucer Attack Flying Saucer Attack is an English space rock band formed in Bristol in 1992, led by songwriter David Pearce. Rachel Brook (now Rachel Coe) of Movietone was a member during the band's early incarnation; other musicians contributing to the gro ...

'' (1993, FSA Records) * ''

'' (1995, Domino Records/ Drag City) * ''New Lands'' (1997, Domino Records/Drag City) * ''

'' (2000, FSA Records/Drag City) * ''Instrumentals 2015'' (2015, Domino Records/Drag City)

Singles and EPs

* "Soaring High" (1993, FSA Records) * "Wish" (1993, FSA Records) * "Crystal Shade" (1994, FSA Records) * "Land Beyond the Sun" (1994, Domino Records/Drag City) * "Beach Red Lullaby" (1995, Planet Records) * "Outdoor Miner" (1995, Domino Records)) * "At Night" split with Jessamine (1996, Enraptured) * "Sally Free and Easy" (1996, Domino Records/Drag City) * "Goodbye" featuring

(1997,

) * "Up in Her Eyes" (1997, Stop Smiling) * "Coming Home" (1997, Domino Records)

Live albums

* ''In Search of Spaces'' (1996, Corpus Hermeticum)

Compilation albums

* ''Distance'' (1994, Domino Records/VHF Records) * ''

'' (1995, Domino Records/Drag City) * ''Mort Aux Vaches'' split with

Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

and White Winged Moth (2000, Mort Aux Vaches) * ''P.A. Blues'' (2004, VHF Records) * ''Heartbeat / Complete'' (2012, Weltraum)

Collaboration albums

* ''Distant Station'' with Tele:Funken (1996, Domino Records/Drag City)

Compilation appearances

* "Since When (One)", "Since When (Two)", "Since When (Three)" and "Since When (Four)" on ''

Harmony of the Spheres The ''musica universalis'' (literally universal music), also called music of the spheres or harmony of the spheres, is a philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies – the Sun, Moon, and planets – as a f ...

'' (1996, Drunken Fish Records) * "Grey - Afro" on '' More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album'' (1999, Birdman Records) * "XXIV Silently She's Combing" on '' Chamber Music:

(1907). 1-36.'' (2008,

)

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*
FAQ
– with contributions from Dave Pearce {{Authority control Musical groups from Bristol English post-rock groups English space rock musical groups Shoegazing musical groups Dream pop musical groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2000 Drag City (record label) artists VHF Records artists