Spray is a

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

duo from

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, England, consisting of siblings Jenny McLaren and

Ricardo Autobahn John Matthews (born 8 March 1978) better known by his stage name Ricardo Autobahn is an English producer, songwriter and musician. He is also known in collaborations with Daz Sampson as in Rikki & Daz and the projects like Barndance Boys, Cub ...

. Following the demise of their previous band, the

Cuban Boys The Cuban Boys are an English electronic group and production team, currently composed of Skreen B and Ricardo Autobahn; the band formerly also included B.L. Underwood ("Blu") and Jenny McLaren (Autobahn's sister). Their music is characterised ...

(famous for their

Hampster Dance The Hampster Dance is one of the earliest Internet memes. Created in 1998 by Canadian art student Deidre LaCarte as a GeoCities page, the dance features rows of animated GIFs of hamsters and other rodents dancing in various ways to a sped-up ...

record and

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

sessions), McLaren and Autobahn released the album ''Living In Neon'' on Ninthwave Records in the United States. This was followed in 2003 by the extended single "I Am Gothic". A new album, ''Children of a Laser God'' was released online in 2006, along with the single "

Run With Us "Run With Us" is the end theme song for the 1980s television series ''The Raccoons''. It was written by Kevin Gillis, Jon Stroll and Steve Lunt. The song was originally recorded by Steve Lunt for the first season in 1985 but was later covered ...

", a cover of the theme tune of the popular 1980's cartoon ''

The Raccoons ''The Raccoons'' is a Canadian animated television series that ran on CBC from November 11, 1985 to March 19, 1991 in Canada and on Disney Channel from July 4, 1985 to August 28, 1992 in the U.S., with three preceding television specials from ...

'' with the "Michael Trenfield" remix as the main single accompanied with the original version and remixes from JKZ, Absorb, FMU and Diskowarp. After a hiatus, the duo returned in 2010 with the single "Everything's Better With Muppets", accompanied by a popular YouTube video containing excerpts from

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

lipsynching with the song. Amongst other projects, Spray have been partially responsible for

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...

's 2002 return to the top of the charts with the "Rhinestone Cowboy" remake, top 40 kids band the

Barndance Boys The Barndance Boys was an English trio musical formation made as a country and folk dance act in 2003. Barndance Boys was the brainchild of John Matthews (stage name Ricardo Autobahn) from the Cuban Boys fame. He launched the novelty band with ...

, and the European hit "The Woah Song" by DJ Daz (

Daz Sampson Darren "Daz" Sampson (born 28 November 1974) is a British professional football manager/scout, music producer and broadcaster. Sampson is known for his commercial dance music as part of several groups and his television appearances. He has had n ...

). McLaren has a successful sideline in vocalising club/dance records, and Autobahn in soundtracks and commercials. The band has also had one of their singles, "I Am Gothic", appear in the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

game Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3. In 2006 Autobahn co-wrote and produced the UK's

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

entry, "

Teenage Life "Teenage Life" was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, which was sung by Daz Sampson in English. On 4 March 2006, Sampson had won the BBC show ''Making Your Mind Up'' with the song "Teenage Life", which was written and produced with ...

", with his long-term collaborator

. Spray's 2016 release, ''Enforced Fun'', released on the Banoffeesound label, featured narration on its opening track "The Prologue" by actress and singer

Jane Badler Jane Badler (born December 31, 1953) is an American-Australian actress and singer. She is known for her role as Diana, the main antagonist in NBC's science fiction series '' V'' between 1983 and 1985. Badler also appeared in ABC's version of '' ...

and collaborations on other tracks with artists like Kid Kasio and

Hyperbubble Hyperbubble is an international visual and performing arts electropop/synth-pop duo from San Antonio, Texas, formed by Jeff DeCuir and Jess Barnett DeCuir. The music of this American group is variously described as "early Eurythmics meets Josie and ...

. A version available by electronic download through

bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

included instrumental versions of the tracks and a bumper sticker. Their fourth album ''Failure Is Inevitable'' was released in May 2019 on Analogue Trash.

Discography

Albums

* ''

Living in Neon Spray is a synth-pop duo from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, consisting of siblings Jenny McLaren and Ricardo Autobahn. Following the demise of their previous band, the Cuban Boys (famous for their Hampster Dance record and John Peel ses ...

'' (2002) * ''

Children of a Laser God A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger t ...

'' (2006) * ''The Difficult Third Album'' (2014), compilation, Banoffeesound * ''Enforced Fun'' (2016), Banoffeesound * ''Failure Is Inevitable'' (2019), Analogue Trash * ''Ambiguous Poems About Death'' (2021), Analogue Trash

EPs

* ''We're Nihilists, Not Stylists'' (EP) (2011) * ''We Are Gothic'' (EP) (2016) * ''Anthologised By Cherry Red'' (EP) (2018) * ''Offerings from the Algorithm'' (EP) (2020)

Singles

* "I am Gothic" (Remix Project) (2003) * "Run with Us" (2006) * "He Came with the Sleigh" (2007) * "Singing for England 2010" (2010) * "Everything's Better with Muppets" (2010) * "Manga Eyes" (2014) * "It's Not Enough" (with Kid Kasio) (2016)

References

External links

Spray's official websiteSpray at MySpaceYouTube clip for "He Came with the Sleigh"YouTube clip for "Everything's Better with Muppets"Spray at DiscogsSpray at Bandcamp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spray English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 2001 Musical groups from South Yorkshire English electronic music duos Sibling musical duos