The Spook School were a British four-piece

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

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 Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The name is a reference to the

Glasgow School The Glasgow School was a circle of influential artists and designers that began to coalesce in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1870s, and flourished from the 1890s to around 1910. Representative groups included The Four (also known as the Spook School ...

. The band's lyrics explore "

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

and

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

issues" with themes such as "fluidity and the lack of a

binary Binary may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * Binary number, a representation of numbers using only two digits (0 and 1) * Binary function, a function that takes two arguments * Binary operation, a mathematical operation that t ...

in gender". Their music is often compared to bands on the

C86 ''C86'' is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine ''NME'' in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music gen ...

compilation, such as

The Shop Assistants Shop Assistants were a Scottish indie pop band from Edinburgh, Scotland, formed in 1984, initially as 'Buba & The Shop Assistants'.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 502 After achieving success with indepe ...

, as well as

The Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

; the band also lists

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

as an influence.

History

They met and formed in 2012 whilst attending the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. Brothers Nye and Adam Todd met AC Cory and Niall McCamley through the university's comedy society. Most of the band have previously been involved in live comedy shows, some of which were performed at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. After a self released

CD-R CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can be written once and read arbitrarily many times. CD-R discs (CD-Rs) are readable by most CD readers manufactured prior to the in ...

single, ''"History"'' / ''"Hallam"'', they released an EP (recorded in Adam Todd's bedroom) on cassette with Scottish label

Soft Power Records Soft Power Records was a Scottish independent record label and online record shop based in Livingston, West Lothian and active from 2010 to 2016. It was founded by Bek & Graeme Galloway. It specialised in indie and noise pop music. All of thei ...

in 2012 with the title ''I Don't Know, You Don't Know, We All Don't Know the Spook School''. It was followed by a single for Cloudberry Records later that year.

Fortuna Pop! Fortuna POP! was an English independent record label based in London, started in 1995 by Sean Price. It specialised in indie pop music. Fortuna POP! previously promoted gigs under the banner of The Beat Hotel and then Basement Scam at the Buffal ...

label owner Sean Price signed the band after seeing them play at

Indietracks Indietracks was an annual indie pop music festival at the Midland Railway in Butterley, Derbyshire, UK. The main site was located at Swanwick Junction. Bands played in variety of locations, including a restored church, in a train shed, and on ...

Festival in 2012. They released music on the label until its dissolution in 2017, shortly after which they signed to

Alcopop! Records Alcopop! Records is a British independent record label, run by Jack Clothier and Kevin Douch formed in 2006 when the pair lived together in East Oxford. The label works with the likes of DZ Deathrays, Johnny Foreigner, Fight Like Apes, Anamana ...

. They released their first album, ''Dress Up'', in 2013. In 2014 they played N.Y.C. Popfest. That same year, the band were invited to do the music for the second season of the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

show

Badults ''Badults'' is a British sitcom series created and starring the members of Pappy's, along with Emer Kenny, Jack Docherty and Katherine Ryan in the Leading actor, lead roles. Written collectively by Pappy's, the first series piloted on 23 July 201 ...

. ''Try to Be Hopeful'' was issued in October 2015, again by the

label, as well as

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. Christopher ...

in the U.S. The group's next appearance on record was ''Continental Drift'', a split LP on Fortuna Pop! and Slumberland that also featured songs by the Mercury Girls, Wildhoney, and Tigercats. After the 2017 holiday single ''"Someone to Spend Christmas With"'' on their new UK label,

, in early 2018 the Spook School released with third album, ''Could It Be Different?''. The band announced that they were breaking up in March 2019, and went on a farewell tour later in the year. In a statement, they said "we just can't devote ourselves to the band the way we want to anymore" and that they would "rather go out with a fanfare" than "slip away".

Critical reception

Their debut album, released in 2013, is entitled ''Dress Up'' because it "relates to the idea of gender being a social construction, something that can be artificially appropriated". The record received positive reviews from ''

Loud and Quiet ''Loud and Quiet'' is a British bi-monthly music magazine that focuses on new music from underground indie, alternative, electronic and hip hop artists. History and profile The magazine was founded in January 2005 by Stuart Stubbs as a home-print ...

'', '' Under the Radar'', and '' The Skinny''. Their second album, ''Try To Be Hopeful'', released in 2015, has also received favourable coverage from music journalists. Often with emphasis that their world-view encompasses the fluidity of both gender and sexuality and that this gives their output "urgency and cheering freshness". The band's third album, ''Could It Be Different?'' was released January 2018 - just before embarking on a US tour supporting New York state pop-punk duo

Diet Cig Diet Cig is an American indie rock duo that formed in September 2014 in New Paltz, New York, United States. The band consists of Alex Luciano on guitar/vocals and Noah Bowman on drums. Their first studio album, ''Swear I'm Good At This'', was rele ...

. It has been described as a "defining statement", and a "a life-affirming return" which finds them "on the cusp of greatness". Clash called it arguably "one of the most important albums of 2018". It was long-listed for that years

Scottish Album of the Year Award The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award is an award given annually for an outstanding album produced by a Scottish artist. The award was launched in 2012 by thScottish Music Industry Association(SMIA) in partnership with Creative Scotland Cre ...

Discography

Albums

*''Dress Up'' -

, 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2013) *'' Try To Be Hopeful'' -

(UK) /

(US), 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2015) *'' Could It Be Different?'' -

(UK) /

(US), 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2018)

Extended plays

*''I Don't Know, You Don't Know, We All Don't Know The Spook School'' -

, Cassette EP, MP3 (2012)

Singles

*"History" / "Hallam" - Self release, CD Single, MP3 (2011) *"Here We Go" / "Cameraman" - Cloudberry Records, 7" Single, MP3 (2012) *"I'll Be Honest" / "Will You Always Be My Friend?" -

, 7" Single, MP3 (2013) *"Binary" / "David Bowie Songs" -

, 7" Single, MP3 (2016) *"Someone to Spend Christmas With" -

, MP3 (2017) *"Still Alive" -

, MP3 (2017) *"Less Than Perfect" -

, MP3 (2017) *"Body" -

, MP3 (2018) *"Keep In Touch" -

, MP3 (2019)

Split releases

*''Continental Drift'' (with Tigercats, Wildhoney, and Mercury Girls) -

and

, 12" EP, MP3 (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spook School Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom British indie pop groups Scottish indie rock groups Musical groups from Edinburgh LGBT-themed musical groups Queercore groups Musical groups established in 2011 Musical groups disestablished in 2019 2011 establishments in Scotland Alcopop! Records artists