"Formed a Band" is song by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

-based

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Art Brut Art Brut are a Berlin-based English and German indie rock band. Their debut album, ''Bang Bang Rock & Roll'', was released on 30 May 2005, with its follow up, '' It's a Bit Complicated'', released on 25 June 2007. Named after French painter Je ...

. It was released as a single on 29 March 2004 by

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pu ...

and reached number 52 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. A later recording, produced by

John Fortis John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, is present on their 2005 album ''

Bang Bang Rock & Roll ''Bang Bang Rock & Roll'' is the debut studio album by British rock band Art Brut. It was re-released in 2006 with bonus CD. Reception ''Bang Bang Rock & Roll'' was released to highly positive reviews from music critics; on the review aggregat ...

''. The earlier version of the song was released on the

Angular Records Angular Recording Corporation was an independent record label founded in New Cross, South East London. It was established in June 2003 by two ex-Goldsmiths College students, Joe Daniel and Joe Margetts, who reclaimed a local Ordnance Survey Tr ...

sampler in November 2003 and is featured on the compilation ''

Art Brut Top of the Pops ''Art Brut Top of the Pops'' is a compilation album by the band Art Brut. As well as a 'best of' set, the two-disc collection includes two new songs, "Arizona Bay" and "We Make Pop Music", as well as B-sides, cover versions, demos and live mater ...

'' as "Formed a Band (Early

Keith Top of the Pops Keith Top of the Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band is a London-based indie rock band led by singer-songwriter Keith Top of the Pops (born Keith Mahony). The band was formed at an Art Brut gig in New York City in 2006, aft ...

Version).

Track listing

Reception and legacy

The song is featured on the 2006

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

Video game, ''

FIFA Street 2 ''FIFA Street 2'' is the 2006 sequel to the EA Sports video game '' FIFA Street''. A new "trick stick beat" system was introduced and new authentic tricks were also introduced. The game was released for the GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2 ...

'' as well as an episode of ITV's ''

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohea ...

'', the popular ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'' spin off. It was also included on the Pitchfork 500. In December 2009, ''

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 ...

'' listed "Formed a Band" as the 32nd best single of the decade. In October 2011, ''NME'' placed it at number 102 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". In 2012,

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a dr ...

frontman

John Flansburgh John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar. Commo ...

listed the song as one of his top 10 tracks – praising the "countless fanciful lyrical turns".

References

UK chart information
at

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

2004 debut singles 2004 songs Rough Trade Records singles {{2000s-rock-song-stub