Tim Smith's Spratleys Rats

Tim Smith's Spratleys (formerly Spratleys Japs) are an English psychedelic rock band originally formed by Cardiacs leader Tim Smith and Joanne Spratley in 1998. The band changed their name to Tim Smith's Spratleys Rats in 2021. As of 2024, the band's name is simply Tim Smith's Spratleys."ORGAN THING: Singing Cardiacs songs for him, the Sing For Tim celebration at the Garage, London, of course it was wonderful, of course it was…"
- live review by Sean Worrall in ''Organ'', 4 May 2024"Sing to Tim - The Smith & Drake Ensemble/Crayola Lectern/Spratleys/Cardiacs & Friends - Garage, London & Brudenell, Leeds 4-6 May 2024"
- live review by Andrew Wood in ''Joyzine'', 17 May 2024"Cardiacs Friends & Family Announce Further Sing to Tim Events"
- news item by Mike in ''Avant Music News'', 31 May 2024"Low Culture Essay: Cathi Unsworth on the Magic of Cardiacs' Tim Smith"
- review/article by Cathi Unsworth in ''The Quietus'', 23 May 2024

History

Original line-up (1998-1999)

Spratleys Japs originally emerged during a lull in Cardiacs activities during which Tim Smith wanted to try something new. The band's original line-up was Smith (vocals, bass guitar, Mellotron) and Joanne Spratley (vocals, flugelhorn, Theremin), plus Heidi Murphy (electronic devices and synthesisers), Mark Donovan (guitar) and Viv Sherriff (drums). Murphy, Donovan and Sherriff had allegedly been members of an American rock band called the Rev-Ups, which had initially formed near Mexico but had subsequently moved to the New Forest area of England. Since neither the original Spratleys Japs band nor the Rev-Ups have ever been recorded as having played live, it has been suggested that the Rev-Ups personnel were fictional and that all sounds were in fact created by Smith and Spratley.

The band project was known to have been inspired by the sound of a malfunctioning Mellotron loaned to Tim Smith by Planet Mellotron coordinator Andy Thompson. The Mellotron was used extensively on the original Spratleys Japs recordings. (It has since been repaired). Sean Kitching of ''The Quietus'' has also claimed that "according to Tim, the note for the project that became Spratleys Japs read: 'Record something really quickly, make the drums sound shit.'","The Strange (Parallel) World of... Tim Smith of Cardiacs"
- article by Sean Kitching in ''The Quietus'', 3 July 2022 while ''The Organ'' would claim in 2024 that "Tim once said he was trying to write pop songs or Spratleys Japsand to his frustration 'they always came out sounding like all the other shit I do.'..."

Spratleys Japs released one album — 1999's ''Pony'' — and one single, 1999's "Hazel". Both of these recordings were released on Smith's own short-lived All My Eye and Betty Martin Music label. ''Pony'' sold several hundred copies, and the band never performed its material live before lapsing into inactivity.

Although the band never formally split up, there was no further Spratley's Japs work for the next seventeen years. Joanne Spratley went on to work with Christian Hayes' project Mikrokosmos, while Smith returned to Cardiacs activity. Meanwhile, the Spratleys Japs recordings became popular with Cardiacs fans, despite being unavailable for many years. In 2008, Smith suffered a debilitating heart attack and stroke which left him unable to work and perform.

Revival (2016–2019)

In 2016 Joanne Spratley's son Jesse Cutts suggested they should form a band together; in autumn that year she organized a Spratleys Japs concert in Brighton. It took place on 19 November and was billed as "Spratleys Japs Performed Live". Although Tim Smith, still physically incapacitated, remained unable to perform, he attended as an audience member. The performing band featured Spratley and Cutts plus musicians drawn from various Brighton bands including Clowwns, Crayola Lectern, Muddy Suzuki and Heavy Lamb.

The concert led in turn to a full revival of Spratleys Japs featuring the new lineup, which included — alongside Spratley on vocals/percussion and Cutts on bass guitar — Adrien Rodes (keyboards), Étienne Rodes (guitars), and Damo Waters (drums). They did assorted concerts in England during 2017, including a small tour. Billing themselves as "Tim Smith's Spratleys Japs", they made their live London debut at the Lexington music pub in a double-header with Guapo: Kavus Torabi made a cameo appearance for their encore, joining the band for a cover of Cardiacs' "Flap off You Beak".

Attending the Lexington gig, Paul Lester of ''Prog'' hailed the band's "maverick spirit" and "curious thrashy vignettes hichlocate the weirdness at the centre of post-war English genteel society and culture... File under barmy but affecting." Lester also noted the band's multiple musical ingredients ("prog punk... classical, psych and prog... galumphing strangeness") and the way in which the song "Burnt" "violently transitions from hippie to rhythmic post-punk, goes back to psych, fits in a Mothers of Invention snark chorale, then repeats", as well as commenting that " oanneSpratley sings like a Victorian girl trapped in an attic – her distracted, plummy English tones are a signature component of this mad miscellany."

On 18 December 2018, the single "Her/Hands" was released, featuring two tracks written collectively by the current band and with Tim Smith credited as "executive musical producer". This was followed by a Christmas gig at the Garage club in London to celebrate an Honorary Degree as Doctor of Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland which Smith had received in October. Reviewing the concert, Roger Trenwith of ''The Progressive Aspect'' commented that it "gave my quirk button a gentle nudge", drawing attention to the "fabulously angular but direct" songs "Klog" and "Cabinet" and observing that "Jo Spratley has a beguiling stage presence, moving around like a marionette set free, messing up her hair and casting cryptic glances at the thronging melee in front of her."

In January 2019, Tim Smith's Spratleys Japs performed an almost full performance of ''Pony'', although Spratley was suffering from a throat infection. On 4 February 2019, the band had a session with Marc Riley. On 17 May 2019, they supported Gong at Oslo (Hackney) and revealed plans to release a new album by the end of the year. A further concert was played at The Green Door Store in Brighton on 21st December 2019.

Further activity (2021–present)

Despite their previous plans, Spratleys Japs' second album was delayed, and there was no further public activity for a couple of years. Three live tracks from the 2019 Brighton concert ("Hands", the as-yet-unreleased-on-record "Pandy" and a cover of Cardiacs' "Is This the Life") were released via Bandcamp on the "CONFINEMENT/release6" EP on 3 July 2020, as part of a series of Covid lockdown releases featuring bands connected to Joanne Spratley and Christian Hayes. During the same month, Tim Smith died following a second heart attack.

On 5 June 2021 Joanne Spratley announced on Facebook that the band would be changing its name to Tim Smith's Spratleys Rats after discovering the potentially offensive nature of the term "Japs". In fact, the name had innocent origins and had been taken from antique British confectionery, with Joanne Spratley explaining, "when we named the band we thought apssounded like some sweets that you got in a paper bag when you was a kid weighed out by the man behind the counter from one of them big dusty jars." "Spratleys Rats" was a suggestion from Marina Organ. Tim Smith's name was appended to the group name as a posthumous commemoration and as an acknowledgement of his vital contributions as original instigator, composer and performer.

With Stephen Gilchrist replacing Damo Waters on drums, the band resurfaced in May 2024 to play a series of "Sing for Tim" gigs in London and Leeds in honour of Tim Smith, alongside The Smith & Drake Ensemble, Crayola Lectern and Cardiacs & Friends (the last being a line-up of various ex-Cardiacs and related musicians playing a headlining set of Cardiacs songs). For these gigs (and going forward), the band changed their name to Spratleys.

Reviewing Spratleys at the first London gig, ''The Organ'' stated "there’s a lot of emotion up there, there’s joy, there’s tears, there’s drums, tambourines and ribbons and a beautiful sway, these songs always had a beautiful sway, a flow, a majestic rhythm, a kind of pushing throb, they are different, still with that same wonderful essence though and they are being performed rather well to a very very attentive joyous crowd tonight, of course they are. I wasn’t going to start picking out songs this evening but the performance of "Oh" does deserve particular mention, that really was quietly beautiful, it was a rather brave performance, fragile, raw, extra special on a special night."

Further shows are planned for autumn 2024.

Members

According to Eric Benac:

Original line-up

* Joanne Spratley – vocals, flugelhorn, theremin
* Tim Smith – bass guitar, vocals, keyboards
* Heidy Murphy – electronic devices, keyboards, synthesizers
* Mark Donovan – guitar
* Viv Sherriff – drums

2016 Revival
* Joanne Spratley – vocals
* Jesse Cutts – bass guitar
* Adrien Rodes – keyboards
* Étienne Rodes – guitars
* Damo Waters – drums

2024 onwards
* Joanne Spratley – vocals
* Jesse Cutts – bass guitar
* Adrien Rodes – keyboards
* Étienne Rodes – guitars
* Stephen Gilchrist – drums

Discography

Albums

* ''Pony'' (1999)

Singles and EPs

* ''Hazel'' EP (1999), AME CD002
* "Odd Even" (2017)
* ''Her/Hands'' 7" (2018)
* ''Confinement/release6'' (2020)

Notes

References

External links

anywhere.co.uk/japs archivespratleysjaps.net archive

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English psychedelic rock music groups
English progressive rock groups
English art rock groups
English indie rock groups
English experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1998
Rock music groups from Hampshire