Jack were a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band formed in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, in 1992. Their orchestral pop was influenced by artists such as Scott Walker,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

and

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

,Roberts, Chris. "A Church On Fire Is Gorgeous...". '' Uncut''. October 1998. and drew comparisons to

Tindersticks Tindersticks are an English alternative rock band formed in Nottingham in 1991. They released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples embarked on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006 and more permanently the following year. The ...

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...

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 ...

and

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

. The band attracted a cult following in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and continental

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, particularly

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, but they failed to match the commercial success of their

britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

contemporaries. They split in 2002.

History

The band was formed in Cardiff in 1992 by singer-songwriter

Anthony Reynolds Anthony Reynolds is a Welsh musician. He has worked as a solo artist and in collaboration with others in his bands Jack and Jacques. Jack In 1993, Reynolds moved to London, where he formed the group Jack, on lead vocals, signing a music publ ...

and guitarist Matthew Scott. The pair moved to London in 1993, where they recruited Richard Adderley (guitar), Audrey Morse (violin), Patrick Pulzer (drums), Colin Williams (bass) and George Wright (keyboards). They signed to

Too Pure Too Pure Records was a London-based independent record label formed in 1990 by Richard Roberts and Paul Cox. The label gained prominence after the release of PJ Harvey's debut studio album ''Dry (album), Dry'' in 1992, and subsequently found f ...

in 1995, with their first release for the label being the limited-edition "Kid Stardust" single (a tribute to

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German Americans, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambien ...

) in November that year. Their debut album, ''Pioneer Soundtracks'', was released in June 1996. Produced by Peter Walsh, the album garnered excellent reviews, Jones, Allan. "The Mourning After". ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

''. 22 June 1996. Penman, Ian. "CD of the Week: Jack". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. 28 June 1996. but despite considerable touring both in the

and

, the three initial singles drawn from the album - "Wintercomessummer", "White Jazz", and "Biography Of A First Son" - failed to pick up any serious airplay and as a result sales were disappointing. Morse had left the band a year after recording their debut. She was replaced by Lucy Wilkins in summer 1996. Wilkins was in turn replaced by Ruth Gottlieb the following year. Following a renegotiation of their contract with Too Pure, they returned to the studio with Divine Comedy producer

Darren Allison Darren Allison (born May 1968, Ashington, Northumberland, England) is an English record producer, musician, and audio engineer, best known for his production work with artists such as Spiritualized,Kempster, Chris "Studio secrets of the sta ...

in autumn 1997 to work on their second album. '' The Jazz Age'' was released in August 1998. Despite more excellent reviewsJones, Allan. "Tenement Symphonies". ''Uncut''. August 1998. Bennun, David. "Bohemian Rhapsodies". ''The Guardian''. 14 August 1998. and further European touring, the two singles from the album, "Lolita Elle" and "Steamin’" received little airplay and sales were once again disappointing. A mooted follow-up album, ''An Anatomy Of Melancholy'', was abandoned after the band was dropped by Too Pure and both Adderley and Gottlieb left the band, while Pulzer split his time with Rosita, formed by ex-

Kenickie Kenickie were an English four-piece pop punk band from Sunderland. The band was formed in 1994 and consisted of lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist Lauren Laverne (b. Lauren Gofton), drummer Johnny X (real name Pete Gofton, Lauren's brothe ...

members Marie Du Santiago and Emmy Kate Montrose. A five-track mini-album, ''La Belle et la Discotheque'', produced by former

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music, rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 19 ...

bassist

Simon Raymonde Simon Philip Raymonde (born 3 April 1962) is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer Ivor Raymonde. He is best known as the bass guitarist and keyboard player with the Scottish band Cocteau Twins ...

, was released in September 2000. Although reviews were once again excellent, sales were low - although two tracks, "Sometimes" and "Disco-Cafe-Society" were playlisted on Spanish national radio. By this time Williams, Wright and Pulzer had the left the band and Scott and Reynolds elected to continue as a duo. A final album, ''The End Of The Way It's Always Been'' was released in April 2002. The group disbanded later that year after an extensive European tour, including an appearance at the

Benicàssim festival Benicàssim (; ); officially Benicasim / Benicàssim) is a municipality and beach resort located in the province of Castellón (province), Castellón, on the Costa del Azahar in Spain. The Desert de les Palmes mountain range further inland sh ...

. They played their final concert in Cardiff in November. Pulzer and Adderley later resurfaced as members of The Boyfriends. ''Pioneer Soundtracks'' was reissued in a belated 'Tenth Anniversary Edition' on the Spinney label in March 2007, with an additional CD of alternative versions, B-sides and live tracks.

Discography

Albums

* '' Pioneer Soundtracks'' (Too Pure, 1996) * '' The Jazz Age'' (Too Pure, 1998) * ''The End of the Way It's Always Been'' ( Crepuscule, 2002)

Singles and EPs

* "Kid Stardust" (

, 1995) * "Wintercomesummer" (Too Pure, 1996) * "White Jazz" (Too Pure, 1996) * "Biography of a First Son" (Too Pure, 1996) * "Fall in Love with Me Again" (

Elefant Elefant ( German for "elephant") was a heavy tank destroyer (self propelled anti-tank gun) used by German ''Panzerjäger'' (anti-tank units) during World War II. Ninety-one units were built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand (after its designer F ...

, 1997) * ''Lolita'' EP (Too Pure, 1998) * "Steamin'" (Too Pure, 1998) * ''La Belle et la Discotheque'', (Acuarela, 2000) * "The Emperor of New London" (Crepuscule, 2002) * "Sleepin' Makes Me Thirsty" (Crepuscule, 2002)

References

External links

Jack Discography
* * * {{Authority control Britpop groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Alternative rock groups from Cardiff Welsh rock music groups Welsh alternative rock groups