Misterlee are an
alternative rock band from
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
,
England. Centred on the talents of Lee Allatson they have released four albums.
History
Misterlee consisted of Allatson on vocals, drums and effects, augmented by guitarist Jamie Smith and Michael "Curtis" Oxtoby on electric violin and bass guitar. The debut album was released in 2002, called ''Chiselgibbon'' (2002) it largely written and performed solo by Allatson,
In 2005, the second album ''Night of the Killer Longface'' was released, like the previous one it has largely written and performed by Allatson. Circa that year, Misterlee played in the United States and were looking for American distribution for the second album''.''
''Bootlegger/Misterlee Is Not A Lifestyle Sandwich'' was released late in 2006.
Oxtoby left in late 2007. In the same year, the band were featured on the compilation record ''AFUK & I (VOL. 1): UP THE ANTI!'' on AFUK (Anti-Folk UK) Records, with the track "Dim Lit". Though, their sound is not traditionally
anti-folk
Anti-folk (sometimes referred to as unfolk) is a music genre that emerged in the 1980s in response to the remnants of the 1960s folk music scene. Anti-folk music was made to mock the perceived seriousness of the time's mainstream music scene, a ...
(in the sense of 'acoustic punk').
The band has played with
Hamell on Trial
Edward James "Ed" Hamell, performing as Hamell on Trial, is an American punk rock, anti-folk, spoken word musician, described by Righteous Babe Records as "loud, fast music informed by politics, passion, energy and intelligence, played by a guy ...
,
Sebadoh,
Jeffrey Lewis,
Johnny Dowd,
Simple Kid
Simple Kid, real-name Kieran Macfeely, is an Irish-born solo musical artist.
History
Simple Kid's approach to recording involved recording to an 8-track cassette player then fed into his computer where he applied more modern techniques to cr ...
, and
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the ...
, and has also appeared at festivals such as In the City,
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 it ...
and
Summer Sundae
Summer Sundae (also called the Summer Sundae Weekender) was an annual music festival held in Leicester, England which initially focused on indie (music), indie, Indie folk, alternative, and local music. The festival began as a one-dayer in 2001 ...
.
The band has played
anti-folk
Anti-folk (sometimes referred to as unfolk) is a music genre that emerged in the 1980s in response to the remnants of the 1960s folk music scene. Anti-folk music was made to mock the perceived seriousness of the time's mainstream music scene, a ...
UK festivals in London.
In June 2009, Allatson announced that Misterlee were working on a new album. It was released in 2010, entitled ''This Disquiet Dog''. The album features Allatson and Smith with a cameo performance by Oxtoby, and was recorded at Smith's Owlhouse Studio in South Leicestershire.
In 2018, ''This Disquiet Dog'' was made available as a digital download.
Other projects
Allatson has taught drums since 1991 in Leicester, and at the Dye House Drum Works facility since 2009.
Style
The ''Londonist'' described the band as "A world of anti-folk, Beck-like genre teasing played out in an English country garden on full band and ".
Though the vocal delivery is English, American influences can be heard in the music - ''Leonard's Lair'' describes them as "a man playing doomed country ballads in an American whisky bar".
Discography
*''Chiselgibbon'' (2002)
*''Night of the Killer Longface'' (2005)
*''Bootlegger/Misterlee Is Not A Lifestyle Sandwich'' (2006)
*''This Disquiet Dog'' (2010)
References
External links
Misterlee on MySpaceatomic duster review of Night of the Killer LongfaceBBC Leicester feature
Misterlee at Drowned in Sound*
*
Musicians from Leicester
Musical groups from Leicester
{{UK-band-stub