The Cathode Ray are a Scottish alternative band based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland. The current line-up is Jeremy Thoms (lead vocals/guitar/keyboards), Steve Fraser (guitar/backing vocals), Phil Biggs (guitar/backing vocals), Neil Baldwin (bass), and David Mack (drums and percussion).

History

Originally based on a loose concept of forging late 1970s New York, with late 1970s Manchester, The Cathode Ray started life in 2006, initially as a song-writing collaboration and “a bit of fun” between Jeremy Thoms and his friend ex- Josef K frontman Paul Haig. The songs written were swift to adopt their own unique stamp and personality, so a band was needed to flesh them out. Adding 1960s garage, soundtracks, glam rock, northern soul, disco and psyche to the palette, recording sessions ensued, with ex-Bluebells and TV21 bassist Neil Baldwin, plus drummer/percussionist David Mack completing the line-up. A one-off double A–sided single entitled "What’s It All About?" / "Mind" was released in late 2006 on Pronoia Records. The single was awarded 2006 Single Of The Year by '' Sunday Mail'' columnist Billy Sloan. A second single, "Slipping Away", was released in April 2009 through Re-Action Recordings. Journalist

Paul Lester Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, North London. Career He began his career as a freelance journalist, for ''Melody Maker'' in the early 1990s, as well as ''City Limits'', ''20/20'', ''Sky Magazine ...

proclaimed it a hit single 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 ...

''. A revised version (with Thoms on lead vocals) appears on the band's 2012 debut album. Just prior to the release of that single, Paul Haig quit the project, not wishing to be involved with another band. With Thoms assuming all lead vocal and song-writing duties, former Scars/Mike Scott accomplice Steve Fraser joined on lead guitar and backing vocals in 2009. Writing and recording sessions for their debut album continued with the new line-up throughout 2010 – 2011 at

Gold Star Studios Gold Star Studios was an independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most successful commercial recording studios in the world. Founded ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

. 2010 also saw The Cathode Ray making their live debut with shows in

and

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. They also made an appearance at the

Wickerman Festival The Wickerman Festival was an annual music festival held near Auchencairn in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dubbed "Scotland's Alternative Music festival", its motto was "The Wickerman Festival – it's better than it needs to be!" It began ...

in 2012. Their debut album, ''The Cathode Ray'', was finally released in April 2012, through Stereogram Recordings. The single “Dispersal” was Track Of The Month in April 2012 on the Janice Forsyth Show on

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...

. Three tracks, "Train", "Around" and "Dispersal" were lifted from the album as singles. The Cathode Ray released their second album entitled ''Infinite Variety'' on Stereogram Recordings in April 2015, accompanied by the singles "Resist", "Buck The Trend" and "This Force Of Nature". The Cathode Ray returned in April 2018, after a three-year recording hiatus, with a single "Another World". Their third album ''Heightened Senses'' was released on Stereogram Recordings in November 2019, preceded by the title track as a single in September 2019. ''Heightened Senses'' marked the recording debut of guitarist Phil Biggs with the band, plus production assistance, cover art and video direction from Alex Thoms, the son of lead singer Jeremy Thoms. A remix of "Love and Death" by DJ/producer Alex Tronic was the third and final single to be lifted from the album in February 2020.

Discography

Albums

* ''The Cathode Ray'' (2012, Stereogram Recordings) * ''Infinite Variety'' (2015. Stereogram Recordings) * ''Heightened Senses'' (2019, Stereogram Recordings)

Singles

* "What's it All About" / "Mind" (2006, Pronoia Records) * "Slipping Away" (2009, Re-Action Recordings) * "Train" (2011, Stereogram Recordings) * "Around" (2012, Stereogram Recordings) * "Dispersal" (2012, Stereogram Recordings) * "Resist" (2015. Stereogram Recordings) * "Buck The Trend" (2015, Stereogram Recordings) * "This Force Of Nature" / "Resist" (Tony McQue Remix) (2015, Stereogram Recordings) * "Another World" (2018, Stereogram Recordings) * "Heightened Senses" (2019, Stereogram Recordings) * "Love And Death EP" (2020, Stereogram Recordings)

Features

* "The Sound Of Stereogram" (2015, Stereogram Recordings)

References

External links

Is This Music?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathode Ray Scottish post-punk music groups Scottish rock music groups