Long Fin Killie were a Scottish
experimental rock/
post-rock band, which released three albums and several EPs on the British avant-rock label
Too Pure in the 1990s.
History
Long Fin Killie's core lineup consisted of
Luke Sutherland (vocals, violin, guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, saxophone, hammer dulcimer, thumb piano, etc.), Colin Greig (electric and upright bass), David Turner (drums/percussion), and Philip Cameron (electric guitar). Additionally, Kenneth McEwan (drums/percussion) joined in 1996. Sutherland had previously been in a band called Fenn, based in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, who played many support gigs, including
Ride and
Catherine Wheel. Their name was taken from a family of ornamental freshwater fishes known as
killifishes, noted for their interesting drought survival and reproductive habits.
The members were all highly trained, enabling them to create complex, atypical music which usually featured hypnotically-bowed violins/celli, jazz-influenced drumming, and meandering ambient passages.
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
cited them as having "staggering levels of musicianly talent". Vocalist Luke Sutherland often delivered his cryptic, highly literate lyrics in an androgynous
falsetto voice.
Their debut EP ''Buttergut'' was released in 1994, with debut album ''Houdini'' following the next year. The band's sound, though diverse, was influenced by the likes of
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 ...
mainstays
A R Kane,
Cocteau Twins, and
Slowdive, 1970s German
krautrock groups like
Can, and labelmates
Moonshake,
Pram and
Laika.
Mark E. Smith of
The Fall contributed "guest rants" to the song "The Heads of Dead Surfers," which appeared in 1995 on the EP of the same name, as well as on ''Houdini''. (Listeners to British DJ
John Peel's radio show voted this the No. 10 best song of 1995 in the "
Festive Fifty" list of that year.) LFK toured America in 1995 with the band
Medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
; a split EP was released to promote it.
The band received widespread critical acclaim, but little to no radio play, though they did tour on the 1996 edition of
Lollapalooza as part of its "second stage," in support of their 1996 second LP ''Valentino''. While driving from Sweden to Norway in late 1996, the band's tour bus was involved in a major accident on a patch of ice, causing Sutherland to suffer a collapsed lung, broken ribs and collar bone, and other injuries. He began writing his first novel, ''Jelly Roll'', while recuperating from the crash. In 1997, Turner was replaced by Kenny McEwan on drums. Subsequent album ''Amelia'' (1998) featured songs of shorter lengths and more conventional structures, but it proved to be their last. The group disbanded shortly afterwards, to little mainstream notice, in 1998.
Recurring themes
All of the band's albums had one-word titles honouring public icons who died at early ages: escape artist
Harry Houdini, actor
Rudolph Valentino and pilot
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...
, respectively. Their releases almost all featured intricate
woodcut-style graphic design; ''Valentino'' used woodcuts by 16th-century printmaker
Albrecht Dürer.
Many of the lyrics featured on ''Valentino'' address issues such as racism, sexism and misogyny. In an 1996 interview with ''Lollipop Magazine'', when asked about the repetition of certain lyrical phrases, Luke Sutherland explained: "It’s sort of a continuation of the music. ''Houdini'' was mostly about racism and sexism, and ''Valentino'' is a continuation of that, with the focus a little more on the sexism".
Post-breakup work
Following the band's break-up, its former members moved on to other projects. Sutherland helmed the slightly more accessible group
Bows, which released its albums on Too Pure. Sutherland now lives in London and has written the novels ''Jelly Roll'' (described by L.S. as "vaguely autobiographical"; Anchor, 1998), ''Sweetmeat'' (Anchor, 2002), and ''Venus As A Boy'' (Bloomsbury, 2004). He has also played violin with fellow Scottish band
Mogwai. He is currently a member of the band
Rev Magnetic.
Greig now lives in
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, and runs the independent record label Cocohippo. He also performs his own music under the moniker Wilma Cakebread. Turner lives in London and records his own music under the name disco haircut astronaut.
Kenneth McEwan published a post-apocalyptic book called "The Ghosts of Yule" He now lives in England with his family and wife, making his solo electronic music.
Discography
Albums
*''Houdini'' (1995, Too Pure/ American) (PURE 47) End of CD has hidden 4.5-minute track with hammer dulcimer/
gamelan
Gamelan (; ; , ; ) is the traditional musical ensemble, ensemble music of the Javanese people, Javanese, Sundanese people, Sundanese, and Balinese people, Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussion instrument, per ...
-style instrumentation
*''Valentino'' (1996, Too Pure/ American/ Warner Bros.) (PURE 54)
*''Amelia'' (1997/98, Too Pure) (PURE 74)
EPs
*''Buttergut'' EP (1994, Too Pure) (PURE 39)
*''The Heads of Dead Surfers'' EP (1995, Too Pure) (PURE 44)
*Split EP with Medicine (1995, Too Pure/ American) (AMR CD0017) (3 songs by each band)
*''Hands And Lips'' EP (1996, Too Pure) (PURE 58)
*''Lipstick'' EP (1997, Too Pure) (PURE 75)
Various-artist compilations
*''The
Camden Crawl'' (1995, Love Train) (PUBE 07) LFK's song: "The Heads Of Dead Surfers"
*''Monsters, Robots And Bug Men: A User's Guide To The Rock Hinterland'' 2xCD (1996, Virgin) LFK's song: "(A) Man Ray"
References
External links
Detailed discography pageAnswers.com data*
Allmusic entry
{{Authority control
Long Fin Killie
1993 establishments in Scotland
Musical groups established in 1993
Musical groups disestablished in 1998