Angelica were an English all-girl punk rock band from

Lancaster, Lancashire Lancaster (, ) is a city and the county town of Lancashire, England, standing on the River Lune. Its population of 52,234 compares with one of 138,375 in the wider City of Lancaster local government district. The House of Lancaster was a bran ...

, England. Holly Ross (lead vocals and guitar), Brigit Colton (bass guitar), Claire Windsor (guitar) and Rachel Parsons (drums) formed the band while still at school in 1994 and performed until 2003. Their music was influenced by punk music mixed with

surf rock Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a Music genre, genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is in ...

overtones, and features

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

lyrics.

Career

Beginning with their first single, " Teenage Girl Crush" on the independent label

Deceptive Records Deceptive Records was a British independent record label formed in 1993 by Steve Lamacq, Tony Smith and Alan James, which concentrated on rock and alternative rock. The most famous group signed to the label were Elastica. Steve Lamacq left ...

in 1997, they were regulars on the

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

scene, making numerous appearances 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, ...

's ''Evening Session'' and the legendary

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 ...

show as well as supporting

The Beautiful South The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Hull group The Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members throughout the band's exi ...

at the

Galpharm Stadium Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to naming rights, sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Association football, football club ...

(formerly McAlpine Stadium) in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

. After disagreements with Deceptive Records management, they switched labels to Fantastic Plastic. In August 1999, their " Why Did You Let My Kitten Die?" single was voted Alternative Record of the Year by the ''Evening Session'' audience. Their follow-up single in November 1999, " Bring Back Her Head", peaked at No 8 in the Indie Charts. The band finished the year with a Peel Session and a showcase set on ''Lamacq Live''. In January 2000, Angelica played at 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 ...

'' Premier Awards with

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

and

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

. In April 2000, their mini-album'' The End of a Beautiful Career'', recorded in Matrix Studios

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and produced by Paul Tipler, reached No 4 in the Indie Chart. In August 2000, the band played at the

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

, and their single " Take Me I'm Your Disease" was playlisted by XFM and entered the Indie chart at No 1. In 2002, Angelica completed a European tour supporting Babes in Toyland and also appeared on the UK

Ladyfest Ladyfest is a community-based, not-for-profit global music and arts festival for feminist and women artists. Individual Ladyfests differ, but usually feature a combination of bands, musical groups, performance artists, authors, spoken word an ...

Tour. Their sole full-length album, ''

The Seven Year Itch ''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, from a screenplay he co-wrote with George Axelrod from the 1952 three-act play. The film stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, who reprised his stage role. ...

'', was produced by

Kat Bjelland Katherine Lynne Bjelland (born December 9, 1963) is an American musician. She rose to prominence as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative rock band Babes in Toyland, which she formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1987. ...

of Babes in Toyland and

Katastrophy Wife Katastrophy Wife was an American rock band formed by Kat Bjelland and her former husband Glen Mattson in 1998. Bjelland also fronted the punk rock band Babes in Toyland between 1987 and 2001. The band currently consists of Bjelland on lead vocals ...

and Gavin Monaghan. Angelica also ended the year by headlining the Lancaster Music Co-op benefit weekend. The band played in September 2002 at the Lancaster venue, The Yorkshire House. At some point after this performance, the band split. Bridget Colton and Rachel Parsons appeared with Lancastrian band The Adventures of Loki from 2003 to 2010. Holly Ross is now playing with

The Lovely Eggs The Lovely Eggs are a two-piece lo-fi psychedelic punk rock band from Lancaster, England. They consist of married couple Holly Ross and David Blackwell. Ross was formerly the lead singer and guitarist in the all-female band Angelica. Caree ...

. Rachel Parsons is now playing with Lancaster hip-hop funk band Carpe.

Members

* Holly Ross - lead vocals, guitar * Claire Windsor - guitars * Brigit Colton - vocals, bass guitar * Rachel Parsons - drums and percussion

Discography

Albums: * '' The End of a Beautiful Career'' (2000) (Mini-Album) * ''

'' (2002) Singles: * "Teenage Girl Crush" (1997) * "Why Did You Let My Kitten Die?" (1999) * "Bring Back Her Head" (1999) * "Take Me I'm Your Disease" (2000) Compilation appearances: * '' Deceptive Fifty'' (1998) * '' Ladyfest UK 2001'' (2001) * ''Ladyfest UK 2003'' (2003)

References

External links

Allmusic.com entry AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Artistdirect.com entry

VH1.com Angelica

BBC entry with Peel session and Festive 50 details

The Adventures of Loki - myspace

The Lovely Eggs - myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angelica All-female punk bands English punk rock groups Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 English pop punk groups Riot grrrl bands 1994 establishments in England Musical groups from Lancashire

Career

Members

Discography

See also

References

External links