Rooney were a British DIY band that released three albums between 1998 and 2000, including the debut album ''Time on Their Hands'' which received much support from

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

, who booked them for a session in 1999. They reached number 44 in Peel's Festive Fifty of 1998. The

lo-fi music Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

incorporated sometimes humorous — but often unsettling — spoken-sung lyrics describing everyday, mundane activities and observations, an approach which was consistent across all Rooney releases.

History

Artist Paul Rooney self-released the first Rooney album ''Time on Their Hands'' on Common Culture Records in 1998. The album was widely and favourably reviewed, including notices by Stewart Lee in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', Tom Ridge of ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'' and Gary Valentine of ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

''. The continued support of

earned a place for ''Went to Town'' at number 44 in

's Festive Fifty of 1998, and a Rooney

Peel session John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

was broadcast in 1999. By 1999 Rooney became a band with new members Colin Cromer and Ian Jackson. The second Rooney album ''On Fading Out'' was released in 1999, and the project ostensibly ended with the third and final album, ''On the Closed Circuit'', in November 2000, though gigs continued sporadically until late 2002. In 2006 comedian and writer Stewart Lee curated the Rooney track ''Into the Lens'' for the CD/book ''The Topography of Chance'', which also included Mark E Smith, Derek Bailey and Simon Munnery. The Rooney Peel session was repeated in 2016 on Gideon Coe's BBC 6 Music show, and an EP of the session, entitled ''This Job's Forever - The Peel Session'', was released on Owd Scrat Records in 2020.

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Liverpool Musical groups established in 1997