Flying Saucer Attack is an English

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

band formed in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in 1992, led by songwriter David Pearce. Rachel Brook (now Rachel Coe) of Movietone was a member during the band's early incarnation; Other musicians contributing to the group's recordings and live performances included Rocker (ex- the Flatmates), Matt Elliott (aka the Third Eye Foundation) and Sam Jones (of

Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...

). Drawing on

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such ...

, the group referred to their DIY sound as "rural

psychedelia Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...

" and were associated with bands of the contemporary

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

and

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

scenes. The band was able to create a small but enthusiastic fanbase, and were notable for recording most of their output at home, avoiding recording studios.

History

Pearce had previously been a member of Ha Ha Ha, releasing the ''Up and Down'' EP in 1985. He then formed Rosemary's Children, issuing the 1986 single "Southern Fields" and 1987 album ''Kings and Princes''. While at art school in

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

, he met other Bristol musicians and played through the early 1990s as a member of various groups including the Secret Garden, the Distance and Linda's Strange Vacation. Flying Saucer Attack formed in 1992 as a loose collective centered on the core of Pearce and Brook, releasing their debut single, "Soaring High", in January 1993 on their own FSA label. Their second single, "Wish", followed that June. Both singles were issued as limited edition vinyl 7-inches in handmade packaging. The group's first studio album (self-titled, but sometimes called ''Rural Psychedelia'' as those words appeared on the cover) was released in 1993, and included a noisy cover of

Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, Textile, fabrics, Handbag, purses, furniture, and other items. Suede is made from the underside of the animal skin, which is softer and m ...

's contemporary single "

The Drowners "The Drowners" is the debut single of English rock band Suede, released on 11 May 1992 on Nude Records. It was later included on the band's debut album, ''Suede'' (1993). "The Drowners" charted at number 49 on the UK Singles Chart. Background ...

", which provoked press interest in the record. Like the earlier singles, the album was released on FSA's own label by Heartbeat Productions, and was deliberately only made available on vinyl. The album was released in the United States by

VHF Records VHF Records is an American record label, known for their extensive work with several major experimental artists. The label is based in the Washington, DC suburb of Fairfax, Va., and it initially focused on indie and experimental bands from that reg ...

in early 1994, on CD and vinyl – the CD bore the legend "compact discs are a major cause of the breakdown of society" (other releases would carry messages such as "keep vinyl alive", "home taping is reinventing music" and "less is more"). The band then signed to

Domino Recording Company Domino Recording Company, or simply Domino, is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called ...

. The first release for the new label was ''Distance'' (October 1994), which collected the early singles and some unreleased material. It was released in the US by VHF. A contemporaneous non-album single, "Land Beyond the Sun", was Flying Saucer Attack's first release on US label Drag City, which issued it on 25 September 1994, followed by a Domino release the following month. A second studio album, ''

Further Further or furthur, alternatively farther, may refer to: * ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus *Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band *Furthur (band) Furthur was an American rock band founded in 2009 by former G ...

'', was released on 17 April 1995, by Domino and Drag City. A cover of

Wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

's "Outdoor Miner" was released as a single that year. Another singles compilation followed, ''

Chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

'' on 20 November 1995, including a sleeve note stating that "this album marks the end of FSA phase one". In 1995, Brook left the band to concentrate on Movietone. A version of the folk song "Sally Free and Easy" was initially only released as a single on CD on 5 November 1996; the sleeve note explained that the pressing plant had been unable to cut it to vinyl (a US plant later achieved the feat by using a monaural master, and it was issued on 12" by Drag City). Full-length 1996 releases included ''In Search of Spaces'', an album consisting of early 1994 live tracks (mainly unstructured noise, released by Bruce Russell's

Corpus Hermeticum The is a collection of 17 Greek writings whose authorship is traditionally attributed to the legendary Hellenistic figure Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. The treatises were orig ...

imprint), and ''Distant Station'', an album with two long tracks constructed by fellow Domino act Tele:Funken from samples of the band. The three-song "Goodbye" EP, released 21 January 1997 on

, was a mix of old and new material; the second track, recorded live in April 1995, featured

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

guitarist Roy Montgomery. ''New Lands'', Flying Saucer Attack's third studio album, was released in October 1997. The band described it as "phase two", but it did not depart from the usual mixture of aggressive feedback and noise, and gentle folk-influenced melody. After ''New Lands'' and a final vinyl-only 7" single, "Coming Home", both issued in 1997, Pearce left Domino. The "phase 2" version of Flying Saucer Attack accepted an invitation to participate in a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966. Part of San Francisco's psychedelic music scene, the band merged elements of rock and roll, folk music, pop, blues, and country. They were one of the few groups of which all members were lea ...

co-founder Skip Spence, who was dying of lung cancer. '' More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album'', featuring their cover of "Grey - Afro", was released by

Birdman Records Birdman Records is an independent record label based in South San Francisco, California, that was founded in 2000 by David Katznelson, former A&R vice president of Warner Bros. Records. History Birdman Records is the flagship label of the Bird ...

on 6 July 1999. Flying Saucer Attack's fourth studio album, ''

Mirror A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...

'', was released 17 January 2000 on FSA, effectively marking the end of the group for the next 15 years. Pearce subsequently collaborated with Jessica Bailiff under the name Clear Horizon; the duo released an eponymous album on Kranky in 2003. The only new material released by the band during their sabbatical came in 2008, when Flying Saucer Attack participated in a two-disc

Fire Records Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the l ...

compilation setting all 36 poems from

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's 1907 ''

Chamber Music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

'' poetry collection to music by contemporary alternative acts. After a 15-year hiatus, Flying Saucer Attack released a new album, ''Instrumentals 2015'', on 17 July 2015.

Musical style

Their musical style has been described as

, and

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Flying Saucer Attack'' (1993, FSA Records) * ''

'' (1995, Domino Records/ Drag City) * ''New Lands'' (1997, Domino Records/Drag City) * ''

'' (2000, FSA Records/Drag City) * ''Instrumentals 2015'' (2015, Domino Records/Drag City)

Singles and EPs

* "Soaring High" (1993, FSA Records) * "Wish" (1993, FSA Records) * "Crystal Shade" (1994, FSA Records) * "Land Beyond the Sun" (1994, Domino Records/Drag City) * "Beach Red Lullaby" (1995, Planet Records) * "Outdoor Miner" (1995, Domino Records) * "At Night" split with Jessamine (1996, Enraptured) * "Sally Free and Easy" (1996, Domino Records/Drag City) * "Goodbye" featuring Roy Montgomery (1997,

) * "Up in Her Eyes" (1997, Stop Smiling) * "Coming Home" (1997, Domino Records)

Live albums

* ''In Search of Spaces'' (1996,

)

Compilation albums

* ''Distance'' (1994, Domino Records/VHF Records) * ''

'' (1995, Domino Records/Drag City) * ''Mort Aux Vaches'' split with Main and White Winged Moth (2000, Mort Aux Vaches) * ''P.A. Blues'' (2004, VHF Records) * ''Heartbeat / Complete'' (2012, Weltraum)

Collaboration albums

* ''Distant Station'' with Tele:Funken (1996, Domino Records/Drag City)

Compilation appearances

* "Since When (One)", "Since When (Two)", "Since When (Three)" and "Since When (Four)" on '' Harmony of the Spheres'' (1996, Drunken Fish Records) * "Grey - Afro" on '' More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album'' (1999,

) * "XXIV Silently She's Combing" on ''

(1907). 1-36.'' (2008,

)

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*
FAQ
– with contributions from Dave Pearce {{Authority control Rock music groups from Bristol English post-rock groups English space rock musical groups British shoegaze musical groups British dream pop musical groups English noise rock groups English experimental rock groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2000 Drag City (record label) artists VHF Records artists