The Lodger are an

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, formed in 2004.

History

The Lodger formed in 2004, after Leeds label

Dance to the Radio Dance To The Radio is a British independent record label, based in Leeds, England. History It was named after the refrain of the Joy Division song "Transmission". The label launched with the release of a compilation album 'Dance To The Radi ...

offered to put out a single on the basis of demos that Ben Siddall recorded in his bedsit, the band name inspired by his accommodation.Carter, Allison (2007)
For Dancing Or Thinking: A Q&A With The Lodger
,

Athens Exchange The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE or ATHEX; el, Χρηματιστήριο Αθηνών (Χ.Α.), ''Chrimatistírio Athinón'') is the stock exchange of Greece, based in the capital city of Athens. It was founded in 1876. There are currently five ...

, 1 November 2007 "The name comes from the fact that living in the roof of someone’s house in Leeds, that’s kind of the definition of lodger." The initial line-up was Siddall on guitar and vocals with Lisa Harker on bass and Katie James on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

.Mason, Stewart " The Lodger Biography, allmusic, Macrovision Corporation After 3 sold-out limited 7"s ("Many Thanks For Your Honest Opinion" on

, "Watching" on

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals. The original ...

, and "Let Her Go" on Angular Records) and touring around the UK and Europe with bands such as

The Long Blondes The Long Blondes are an English indie rock band formed in Sheffield in 2003 by Dorian Cox (lead guitar and keyboards), Reenie Hollis (real name Kathryn Hollis) (bass guitar and backing vocals), Emma Chaplin (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing ...

and

The Research The Research were a musical ensemble, band from Wakefield, England. The members were : Russell 'The Disaster' Searle (vocals/guitar/synthesizers), Georgia Lashbrook (bass/vocals/harmonica), and Sarah Williams (drums/vocals). Their songs - typical ...

, the group released their debut album ''Grown-Ups'', produced by

Alan Smyth Alan Smyth is an English record producer from Sheffield, England. He has worked with a number of bands, including Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, Reverend and The Makers, The Long Blondes, Milburn, Richard Hawley, The Fever Club, The Scaramanga Six, Smok ...

and James Ford, in June 2007 on Angular Records in the UK,

Slumberland Records Slumberland Records is an American independent record label, formed in 1989 in Washington, D.C. and based in Oakland, California. The label has released recordings by Velocity Girl, Honeybunch, Lilys, Stereolab, Evans The Death, St. Christophe ...

in the US, Fabtone in Japan and Speak N Spell in Australia. By this time Harker and James had left the band, to be replaced by Joe Margetts and Bruce Renshaw. Critical acclaim for the album followed, drawing comparisons with

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. A ...

The Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, from the ashes of The Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, ...

, and Heavenly, and it was rated at number 4 in

This Is Fake DIY ''DIY'' is a United Kingdom-based music publication, in print and online. Its free print edition is released monthly with a physical circulation of 40,000 in UK venues, clubs and shops. DIY Magazine ''DIY'' was launched in 2002 by then-editor ...

's ''Albums of 2007''.Jones, Francis
The Lodger: Grown-Ups
",

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

, 4 June 2007 The band have featured heavily on the elbo.ws charts since the release along with heavy rotation on US

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

and other stations worldwide. The album was voted as 62nd best of 2007 on www.

amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

and 95th in

Woxy.com WOXY.com was a modern rock internet radio station based in Oxford, Ohio, and later Austin, Texas. WOXY.com relied mainly on its own website to reach its listeners. WOXY.com programming at one time was also available at lala.com and WVXU HD Ra ...

's Top 97 of '07. The Lodger recently completed their first tour of the US in late 2007 and then entered the studio to record their 2nd album in November. The 2nd album is titled ''Life Is Sweet'' and was released in May 2008, again to a positive critical reaction.

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 ...

described the band early on in their career: "Imagine a more bitter and twisted Housemartins, or early

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

".Simpson, Dave (2005)
New York, eat your heart out (The new bands of Leeds)
,

, August 31, 2005

Band members

*Ben Siddall: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards *Joe Margetts: bass guitar *Bruce Renshaw: drums, percussion *Tim Corbridge: lap steel, guitar

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Grown-Ups'' (May 2007) (CD/LP/download album - released in various countries through Fabtone,

Angular Recording Corporation Angular Recording Corporation was an independent record label founded in New Cross, South East London. It was established in June 2003 by two ex-Goldsmiths College students, Joe Daniel and Joe Margetts, who reclaimed a local Ordnance Survey Tr ...

, Noise Deluxe, Slumberland, Speak N Spell/Etch N Sketch) * ''Life is Sweet'' (May 2008) (CD/LP/album - released in various countries through Fabtone, Bad Sneakers Records, Noise Deluxe, Slumberland, Speak N Spell/Etch N Sketch) * ''Flashbacks'' (April 26, 2010) (CD/LP/download - This Is Fake DIY Records (UK) and Slumberland Records (US)) * ''Cul-De-Sac Of Love'' (March 12, 2021) (CD/LP/download - Philophobia Music)

Singles

* 7" single - "Many Thanks For Your Honest Opinion" (

) May 2005 * Split 7" single - "Getting Special" (Wrath) June 2005 * 7" single/download - "Watching" / "Not So Fast" (

) December 2005 * 7" single/download - "Let Her Go" (Angular Recording Corporation) May 2006 * Download single - "Kicking Sand" / "Centuries" (Angular Recording Corporation) April 2007 * 7" single/download - "The Good Old Days" (

Bad Sneakers "Bad Sneakers" is a song by jazz rock band Steely Dan. It was released as the second single and track on their 1975 album ''Katy Lied''. Producer Gary Katz later regretted not releasing the song as the first single. ''Cash Box'' noted that "a ra ...

) April 2008 * 7" EP single/download - "I Think I Need You" (

Elefant Records Elefant Records is an independent record label based in Madrid, Spain. History Elefant Records was founded in 1989 by Luis Calvo as an offshoot of a fanzine he produced called "La Línea del Arco". In 2014, the label's 25th anniversary was celeb ...

) June 2009 * 7" EP single/download - "Have A Little Faith In People" (DIY Records (UK) and Slumberland Records (US)) April 2010

Compilation appearances

* CD compilation - ''Dance to the Radio: Leeds'' featuring "Unsatisfied" (Dance to the Radio) April 2005 * CD compilation on front of ''Thee Humbug'' Issue 3 featuring "Unsatisfied" (

Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation, or Thee SPC, is an independent record label based in Sheffield, UK. It is one of the most influential labels in the Yorkshire area, having given early breaks and support to many bands in the so-called Ne ...

) September 2005 * CD compilation - ''What We All Want'' featuring "You Got Me Wrong" (Dance to the Radio) February 2006 * CD compilation - ''Blue Skies Up: Welcome to the New Pop Revolution'' featuring "Not So Fast" (Dogbox) May 2006 * CD compilation - ''Future Love Songs'' featuring "Simply Left Behind" (Angular Recording Corporation) November 2006 * CD compilation - ''On the Bone Vol 1'' featuring "Let's Make A Pact" (On the Bone) February 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lodger, The British indie pop groups Indie rock groups from Leeds Musical groups established in 2004 2004 establishments in England