Leader Cheetah were an Australian
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band from Adelaide, South Australia, formed in 2007 by members of defunct Adelaide bands ''Pharaohs'' and ''Bad Girls of the Bible''. The band toured nationally and appeared at festivals such as
Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near B ...
,
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...
,
St Jerome's Laneway Festival
The St. Jerome's Laneway Festival, commonly referred to as Laneway, began in Caledonian Lane, Melbourne, Australia, in 2005. Beginning as predominantly an indie music event, the festival grew in popularity and expanded to five Australian citie ...
and
Come Together
"Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on their 1969 album ''Abbey Road'' and was also released as a single coupled with "Somethin ...
. The group released its debut studio album, ''The Sunspot Letters'', in 2009, followed by their second album, ''Lotus Skies'', in 2011. The group have also toured alongside such high-profile international acts as
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
,
Dinosaur Jr.
Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name.
The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ( ...
and
Dan Auerbach
Daniel Quine Auerbach (; born May 14, 1979) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the group, Auerbach has ...
,
Blitzen Trapper
Blitzen Trapper is a Portland, Oregon-based experimental country music, country/Folk music, folk/Rock and roll, rock band associated with Sub Pop Records, Vagrant Records and Lojinx. Formed in 2000, the band currently operates as a quintet, with ...
and
Elbow
The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the media ...
. They disbanded in January 2016.
History
Leader Cheetah were formed in Adelaide in 2007 by Daniel Crannitch on lead vocals and guitar, his brother, Joel Crannitch, on drums, Mark Harding on bass guitar and Dan Pash on lead guitar and harmonies.
The Crannitch brothers were members of the Pharaohs, a dance-rock band;
while Pash was a member of Bad Girls of the Bible.
Pash later recalled "We knew each other from playing around in bands, but I think we started really bonding over drunken musical chats and just discovered we had a shared love of all this classic '70s stuff. Classic songwriting and everything from Link Wray to Lee Hazlewood and all that '70s west-coast stuff. And of course the big one was Neil Young and Crazy Horse."
In March 2009 the group independently released their debut album, ''The Sunspot Letters'', which peaked at No. 64 on the
ARIA Albums Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
.
It was preceded by the single, "Bloodlines".
In the wake of the album's release Leader Cheetah embarked on a series of national tours alongside
Cloud Control
Cloud Control was an Australian alternative rock band, originating from the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia. The band was signed to the Australian record label Ivy League Records, on which they released their first album, '' Bliss Releas ...
. Also in 2009 front man, Dan Crannitch, was a contestant on
SBS music program, ''
RocKwiz'', alongside
Sarah Blasko
Sarah Elizabeth Blaskow (born 23 September 1976), known professionally as Sarah Blasko, is an Australian singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. From April 2002, Blasko developed her solo career after fronting Sydney-based band, Acqui ...
.
The group released their second album, ''Lotus Skies'', in July 2011, which debuted at No. 98.
One of its tracks, "Our Love", has feature vocals by
Holly Throsby
Holly Sarah Throsby (born 28 December 1978) is an Australian musician and novelist. As a solo artist Throsby has issued six albums. She was nominated for an ARIA Award for Best Female Artist in 2006 for '' Under the Town''; and in the same cate ...
.
In September 2011 they described Pash's hearing loss, "
combination of hearing damage and a congenital defect has eroded his hearing so badly he must wear earplugs and earmuffs whenever he performs or rehearses to protect what hearing he has left."
By December of that year they were performing acoustics sets with Pash replaced by Tom Spall on violin.
They announced their disbandment in January 2016, "
tfeels like a good time to finally take the time and thank those involved with Leader Cheetah during its four and a half-year existence and say farewell. It was a hell of a ride and many amazing experiences were had."
In mid 2016 Joel and Dan Crannitch reunited in Adelaide to form "The San Sebastian". In May 2018 "The San Sebastian" released their first album, ''Alive on the Black Sea''
'','' produced by
Phil Ek
Phil Ek is an American record producer, engineer and mixer. Ek began his career in Seattle, Washington in the early 1990s recording live sound in clubs. He then moved into studio recording, recording small projects and demos for local bands. Aroun ...
.
Members
* Daniel Crannitch – vocals, guitar
* Joel Crannitch – drums
* Mark Harding – bass
* Dan Pash – lead guitar, harmonies
* Tom Spall – violin
Discography
Studio albums
Awards
Fowler's Live Music Awards
The Fowler's Live Music Awards took place from 2012 to 2014 to "recognise success and achievement over the past 12 months
ndcelebrate the great diversity of original live music" in South Australia. Since 2015 they're known as the
South Australian Music Awards
The South Australian Music Awards, also known as SA Music Awards, commonly SAM Awards, formerly Fowler's Live Music Awards (FLMA), are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary mu ...
.
, -
, 2012
, Leader Cheetah
, Best Pop Artist
,
, -
References
{{reflist
Australian indie rock groups
Musical groups established in 2007
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups from Adelaide