Absent Kid are a British

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band.

History

Brothers Martin and Richard Williams and bassist Mark Butters grew up in the small coastal town of

West Mersea West Mersea is a town and electoral ward in Essex, England. It is the larger (in terms of population) of two settlements on Mersea Island, south of Colchester. History Roman buildings and tesselated pavements close to the quayside have l ...

. The name Absent Kid was inspired by a character in the cartoon

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

. They debuted in front of a paying audience, performing at a

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

venue, "Twist". The band developed as performers during a series of live performances, and gained a degree of prominence after opening for the now disbanded group Ikara Colt. This led to the band's first significant radio play, on

XFM London Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

. In 2004, Absent Kid won the Diesel-U-Music award for Best Rock. An awards ceremony, held at nightclub

Fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

, was broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. Absent Kid were awarded their trophy by

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 Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Edith Bowman Edith Eleanor Bowman (born 1974) is a Scottish radio DJ and television presenter. She hosted '' Colin and Edith'', weekday afternoons, weekend breakfast, and ''The Radio 1 Review'' on BBC Radio 1 until 2014 and has presented a variety of music-r ...

. This brought some attention from the national press, including the influential

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

. Absent Kid were afterwards signed by

Fierce Panda Records Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-s ...

, who had previously released records by, amongst others,

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

, Idlewild and Keane. The band's debut mini-album, ''I Burnt Down the Family Business'', was released with Fierce Panda on 25 April 2005 to critical acclaim. Their double A-side debut single, ''Shame on Us All/Quiet Playground'', was released on 6 February 2006. The band gained less notoriety in the following year. They released their first full-length album in July 2007. While their previous works drew comparisons to

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

, the new album was hailed as more upbeat and made for the dancefloor. In December 2009 the band announced a return after a year long hiatus with a new line-up with guitarist Kerri-Ann Butcher (formerly from Stand Still Kid) replacing Dominic Harrison. April 2010 saw Absent Kid record a version of

Up the U's "Up the U's" is a football chant regularly sung by fans of the English League Two football team Colchester United and is generally considered to be the club's anthem. It has also been recorded twice by local punk band and fans of the club, Specia ...

for local football club

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

which is now played at home games at the club's

Weston Homes Community Stadium Colchester Community Stadium, known as the JobServe Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Myland, England. It is the home of Colchester United Football Club. It has a capacity of 10,105 and opened in August 2008 i ...

Discography

*''Scatter Photos and Relive Bloodloss'' (EP) *''I Burnt Down the Family Business'' (25 April 2005) *''Shame on Us All / Quiet Playground'' (6 February 2006) *''Misadventure'' (July 2007)

References

External links

Absent Kid Official Site
{{Authority control English indie rock groups Musical groups established in 2002 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom Fierce Panda Records artists Musical groups from Essex