Pete and the Pirates were an English indie rock band from

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 ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, England. The band consisted of Thomas Sanders (vocals), Peter Hefferan (vocals and guitar), David Thorpe (guitar), Peter Cattermoul (bass) and Jonny Sanders (drums).

History

Beginnings and ''Get Even'' EP (2004-2005)

Brothers Tommy Sanders and Jonny Sanders grew up playing music together at home in their early teens. Jonny later played in a band with Guitarist David Thorpe while attending

Maiden Erlegh School Maiden Erlegh School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Earley (near Reading) in Berkshire, England. It was established in 1962 as a Comprehensive school secondary school to serve the families of Wokingham. Today i ...

. It was not until they all left school that they met with Bassist Peter Cattermoul and Guitarist Peter Hefferan, who had also played music together in their late teens, that the band was formed. Initially, the lineup did not include Tommy Sanders and was fronted by Peter Hefferan. After playing just a few shows around Reading, the band were invited on a short tour with all-girl punk band

Wetdog Wetdog is a London-based all-female post-punk trio, formed in the spring of 2007. The band released their first album, "Enterprise Reversal", in 2008 on Angular Records. It was followed by their second album, "Frauhaus", which was released on bo ...

, who took them to play at

The Spitz The Spitz was a music venue in the East End of London, at 109 Commercial Street, London, Commercial Street on the edge of the Old Spitalfields Market. The venue was forced to close in 2007 in a dispute about rent. Closure In April 2007 the lan ...

in Spitalfield Market. It was here that the band was picked up by a new indie label,

Stolen Recordings Stolen Recordings is a British independent record label founded by two musicians, Paul Jones and Mérida Sussex and one artist, Rachael Robb, and is based in Tottenham, London. Stolen's first release was in May 2005. In 2009 they founded a publ ...

, and where they would begin to build their reputation as an exciting live act. Just a few months later, the bands was in a studio in Hornsey making their first EP. The band's first release, the ''Get Even'' EP, was limited to 500 numbered CDs, all with handmade covers. '' Rough Trade'' wrote of the EP "The six tracks have folk bits, byrdsy harmony bits, kraut-rock frug-outs, punk blasts of power and superb pop moments all segued and strewn together carelessly but precisely. It's oddball and charming and would sit perfectly next to the englishness of the Mystery Jets or Wire, although they sound like neither."

''Wait, Stop, Begin'' EP (2006-2007)

After the release of their first EP, the band came to the notice of Jason Lamont of CMO Management. The band continued to play more shows around London and the UK and Tommy Sanders joined the group in 2006. Sometime after this the band were approached by Lamont for management and also by

William Morris Endeavor Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, WME or WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California, United States. The compa ...

for live bookings. Songs from ''Wait, Stop Begin'' would appear later on the debut album ''Little Death''. On 25 August 2007 the band played in the Carling Tent at Reading Festival. They also played guerilla gigs in the campsite later that day, which came to the attention of the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

who featured an article in their magazine.

''Little Death'' (2008-2010)

In June 2007 they released their debut single "Come On Feet" on

and were championed by Steve Lamacq on his In New Music We Trust radio show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. It also featured in EA Sports game, ''

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

''. Their first album ''Little Death'', produced by Gareth Parton and the band, was released on 17 February 2008. It was described by ''

'' as "perfect pop without the pretence". Pitchfork gave ''Little Death'' 8 out of 10 saying "Even if you'd be to admit it to your friends, "Dry Wings", with lines like, "Time for bed / Find a girl and go to bed / Close your eyes / Stars are falling from the sky," is mighty affecting—a winking galaxy of jangled wist, sweet, staggered harmonies and a gawky, yearning sense of wonder." ''The Guardian'' gave the album 3 out of 5 stars saying, "this eclecticism does make Little Death feel like the work of several different bands. No matter. There is imagination to spare here, as well as the occasional winning lyric." Conversely, in a review by ''Vice Magazine'', ''Little Death'' was given 0 out of 10 and winner of the "worst album of the month" category. In this review, written by Stewy Matterson, the album was described as "jangly guitar music that doesn't actually sound like it wants to be heard by anybody apart from he band'smothers". The band played several support dates with Maxïmo Park, Vampire Weekend, Pigeon Detectives and

Gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...

and were the headline act at Club NME at London's

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in September 2008. Pete and the Pirates also performed

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 ...

sessions on shows with Stephen Merchant (co-creator of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

''),

George Lamb George Martin Lamb (born 20 December 1979) is an English radio and television presenter, currently presenting ''Football Tonight'' on BT Sport. In 2012, Lamb presented the Channel 4 game show ''The Bank Job''. Lamb is the son of actor Larry Lam ...

and more frequently Marc Riley. "Mr Understanding" was the band's biggest track to date and featured on many TV shows including ''

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television teen sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 until 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager ...

'' and also in the trailer for the film ''

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'' starring

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...

''One Thousand Pictures'' (2011-2012)

The band's second album, '' One Thousand Pictures'', produced by Brendan Lynch, was released in the UK on 23 May 2011 to much critical acclaim - the Sunday Express and

Artrocker Artrocker is a UK-based collective involved in music promotion and publishing. It was started by Paul Cox and Tom Fawcett who had been co-promoters of a London night called The Sausage Machine. Having started life with an online newsletter and eve ...

both gave the Album 5 star reviews and Mark Beaumont from

gave the Album an 8/10 score, describing the music as "Pop in a tar-pit – black and sticky but wonderfully pure at heart". It was also reviewed in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', '' Q'' and many other magazines and broadsheets. The band had become known for their straight-up accented vocal delivery, as noted by

Johnny Dee Johnny Dee (John D.) is a fictional mutant character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He debuted in ''Son of M #1'' (2005). Fictional character biography Johnny was one of the few mutants who kept his powers after ...

for ''The Guardian'', "you can practically smell the Thames on every word". The first single from the album, "Come to the Bar", was released on 14 March 2011. The promo video was directed by Rohan Thomas and Tylie Cox and was shot at The Lexington in Angel, London. The video features an interpretive dance performance from Daniela Neugebauer and colour grading from Reuben Sutherland. The song later appeared during the end credits of the

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 ...

show '' Sirens''. To promote the record the band toured the UK in April and May 2011 with a sold-out show at Heaven, London on 26 May. '' The Fly'' reviewed "Celebrating the release of new album 'One Thousand Pictures', the band have refined their audience, marking out a clear divide between their work and that of countless indistinguishable landfill indie bands". They also played an in-store show at Rough Trade East on 2 June 2011. The second single "United" was released on 16 May 2011. The band requested footage of cats from fans through their website and mailing list to include in the video for the song. The video also features the band hanging around with various cats. Marc Riley of

has been one of the band's most prominent enthusiasts, inviting them to perform on his show on numerous occasions. The band have achieved playlists on

and

XFM Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...

as well as spot plays on

, where

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

gave "Come To The Bar" his "Hottest Record in the World" for the song's first radio play. "Blood Gets Thin" was used in an episode of '' The Protector'' and of '' American Horror Story'', and in a trailer for the fourth season of ''

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''. A large number of CD and vinyl copies of the album were scorched in a fire at Sony's distribution warehouse during the

2011 England riots The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police ...

. The band toured the UK and Europe from September to November 2011, with a headline show at the Scala in London on 4 October and a 9,000 capacity show with Kaiser Chiefs at Kirkstall Abbey on 10 September. However, their activity was minimal during 2012, and in late October 2012, Marc Riley, on his BBC 6 Music radio show, confirmed the rumours that the band had split up. No official statement has been released. Tommy, Jonny and Peter Cattermoul have reformed under the name

Teleman Teleman are an English indie pop band formed in London in 2011. The group consists of Thomas Sanders (vocals, guitar), Pete Cattermoul (bass) and Hiro Amamiya (drums). History Pete Cattermoul and brothers Jonny and Thomas Sanders were previo ...

. Peter Hefferan now fronts a band called The 3.1419 Wonders, and recently toured with Dan le Sac, as well as singing on a track on his latest album ''Space Between the Words''.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

Little Death (; "the little death") is an expression that means "the brief loss or weakening of consciousness" and in modern usage refers specifically to "the sensation of post orgasm as likened to death." The first attested use of the expression in English ...

'' (17 February 2008) ( UK No. 71) * ''One Thousand Pictures'' (May 2011) (UK No. 75)

EPs

* "Get Even" (August 2005) * "Wait Stop Begin" (July 2006)

Singles

* "Come On Feet" (June 2007) * "Knots" (October 2007) * "Mr. Understanding" (January 2008) * "She Doesn't Belong To Me" (April 2008) * "Jennifer / Blood Gets Thin" (December 2008) * "Come To The Bar" (February 2011) * "United" (May 2011) * "Half Moon Street" (August 2011)

Solo projects

Some members of the band have worked on solo projects including Tommy Sanders'

Tap Tap ''Tap taps'' ( ht, Taptap, ) are gaily painted buses or pick-up trucks with metal coversHa ...

References

External links

Official web site

Pete and The Pirates Gig Review DMG
{{Authority control English indie rock groups British indie pop groups Musical groups from Reading, Berkshire