Sand Pebbles is a

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band from Melbourne, Australia.

History

Formed on

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

, 2001 on the set of

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

by three of the show's screenwriters Christopher Hollow (bass), Ben Michael (guitar) and Piet Collins (drums). Singer-guitarist Andrew Tanner (ex-

Seven Stories Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children's Books is a museum and visitor centre dedicated to children's literature and based in the Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle upon Tyne, close to the city's regenerated Quayside. The renovated Victorian ...

) joined shortly after. In 2003, Murray Ono (born Murray Jamieson) was drafted in on keyboards. He left in 2005 and was replaced by Tor Larsen (of Melbourne psychedelic duo The Sun Blindness) on guitar and vocals. Following the sessions for ''Ceduna'' in 2008, Piet Collins left and was replaced by Cliff Booth (ex-Harem Scarem). In 2009, Wes Holland (also of The Sun Blindness) took over as drummer. Holland's inclusion meant there is a band member born in each decade from the 50s to the 90s. The band splintered in early 2012, with only sparse activity in the following few years. Various members left and then briefly returned for occasional support gigs, such as with

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...

in 2013 and

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

. Sand Pebbles have released six albums in Australia – ''Eastern Terrace'' (2002), ''Ghost Transmissions'' (2004), ''Atlantis Regrets Nothing'' (2006), ''Ceduna'' (2008), ''Dark Magic'' (2011) & Pleasure Maps (2017) plus an international compilation, ''A Thousand Wild Flowers'' (2009). They have played with Arthur Lee &

Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

, Sonic Boom's Spectrum,

Dean & Britta Dean & Britta is an American musical duo consisting of Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, both members of Luna (1990s American band), Luna. Wareham had formed Luna in 1991 after leaving his first band, Galaxie 500. Phillips joined Luna in 2000, ...

Midlake Midlake is an American folk rock band from Denton, Texas, formed in 1999. The band consists of Eric Pulido, McKenzie Smith, Scott Lee, Eric Nichelson, Jesse Chandler, and Joey McClellan. In 2012, vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Tim S ...

M. Ward Matthew Stephen "M." Ward (born October 4, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, Grammy nominated producer and guitarist from Glendale, California. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings. He has r ...

The Models Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni (born 27 April 1959) frequently credited simply as Marco, is a British guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, Siouxsie and the Banshees and many others from the la ...

, The Drones,

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian singer and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker (musician), Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring a ...

The Moodists The Moodists were an Australian post-punk band. They were formed in late 1980 by Dave Graney on lead vocals, Clare Moore on drums and Steve Miller on guitar, all from punk group the Sputniks. They added bass guitarist Chris Walsh in early 1981, ...

, and The Church. They were reputedly banned from the

Meredith Music Festival Meredith Music Festival (otherwise known simply as Meredith or MMF) is a three-day outdoor music festival held every December at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, a natural amphitheatre located on private farmland near the town of Mered ...

for allegedly invading the stage during

Rose Tattoo Rose Tattoo are an Australian Pub rock (Australia), rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, which formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' R ...

's set in 2006. Their songs have been featured on a variety of Australian television shows including ''

The Secret Life of Us ''The Secret Life of Us'' is an Australian television drama series set in the beachside neighbourhood of St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a drama with some comedic moments. The series was produced by South ...

'', '' Last Man Standing'', and ''

''.

Discography

''*Eastern Terrace'' (2002): A

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is the natural phenomenon in which the rays of light passing through a aperture, small hole into a dark space form an image where they strike a surface, resulting in an inverted (upside down) and reversed (left to right) ...

release and the band's full-length debut. It contained songs like "My Sensation", "Moving Too Fast" and a cover of

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

's "Out of My Mind on Dope and Speed". Francois Couture, writing for

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 ...

, announced: "The presence of a (very fine) cover version of

's "Out of My Mind on Dope and Speed" is not an innocent move. This group has clear Krautrock influences (listen to "The Sundowner" for a one-chord extended jam) and an appetite for catchy melodies – two defining characteristics of Cope's songs." ''*Ghost Transmissions'' (2004): A Raoul Records release, produced by Murray Jamieson. It includes a cover of the

Skip Spence Alexander "Skip" Spence (born Alexander Lee Spence, Jr.; April 18, 1946 – April 16, 1999) was a Canadian-born American singer-songwriter and musician. He was co-founder of Moby Grape, and played guitar with them until 1969. In the same year, h ...

song, "All My Life (I Love You), "The Day Summer Fell" and the 12-minute epic "Black Sun Ensemble", which UK critic

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, and deadpan delivery. Lee began his career in 1989 and formed the comedy duo Lee and Herring with Richard ...

noted 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 ...

"is one of those unforgettable, hypnotic, slow-burning, snake-charming epics that comes along once in a generation. ''*Atlantis Regrets Nothing'' (2006): The debut release on the Sensory Projects label, produced by Murray Jamieson. It features a track co-written with

Dave Graney Dave Graney is an Australian rock musician, singer-songwriter and author. Since 1978, Graney has collaborated with drummer-multi instrumentalist Clare Moore. The pair have fronted or been involved with numerous bands including The Moodists (19 ...

("Natalie"), another featuring

Dean Wareham Dean Wareham (born 1 August 1963) is an American musician and actor who co-founded the band Galaxie 500 in 1987. He departed from Galaxie 500 in April 1991 and went on to establish the band Luna (1990s American band), Luna. Following Luna's di ...

("Howard's End") and saw the band expand their sound to include brass and strings. The

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's Jarrod Watt called it "psychedelic rock that doesn't disappear up its own tambourine." ''*Ceduna'' (2008): The band's second release on the Sensory Projects label, produced by James Dean was written and partially recorded at Cactus, a surf beach on the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight (geography), bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern Coast, coastline of mainland Australia. There are two definitions for its extent—one by the Internation ...

. It featured songs such as "Wild Season", "Future Proofed (both with videos by Australian director, Adam White) and "Red, Orange, Purple and Blue". David Nichols, writing for ''Mess + Noise'', wrote: "I listened to it in a car wash and would recommend that." ''*A Thousand Wild Flowers'' (2009): An international release on

and

Britta Phillips Britta Phillips (born June 11, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress. Phillips' music career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the singing voice of the title character ...

' label, Double Feature Records, produced by Malcolm McDowell, James Dean, and Murray Jamieson. It combines tracks from three of their Australia-only albums, rare live cuts ("Nathalie", "Short Term memory Loss") plus a cover of The

13th Floor Elevators The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. The band was together from 1965 to 1969, an ...

song "I Don't Ever Want to Come Down".

Mojo magazine ''Mojo'' (stylised in all caps) is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer. Following the success of the magazine '' Q'', publishers Emap were looking for a title that ...

noted the album's "snaking guitar licks and latter day Velvets rhythmic churn." It was also favourably reviewed by

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

. ''*Dark Magic'' (2011): Released on the Dot Dash Recordings/

Remote Control Records Remote Control Records was established in 2001 by Steve Cross and Harvey Saward. It provides publicity, label management, distribution and marketing services to international and local artists and labels. Remote Control's roster of internatio ...

label in August 2011, 'Dark Magic' was produced by Malcolm McDowell and featured mixes and cameos by Tim Holmes (

Death in Vegas Death in Vegas is an English electronic music group, for which Richard Fearless serves as frontman. The band was formed in 1994 by Fearless and Steve Hellier and signed to Concrete Records under the name of Dead Elvis. Owing to an Irish record ...

Will Carruthers Will Carruthers (born 9 November 1967, in Chesterfield, England) is a musician, best known for playing bass in the influential alternative rock bands Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized. Biography Early life Carruthers moved to Rugby in 1977, and ...

(

Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psyched ...

Spiritualized Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centred on Pie ...

) and

(

). *Pleasure Maps (2017) : Released on the Kasumuen label in 2017, Pleasure Maps was produced by Malcolm McDowell & James Dean and featured special guests Steve McLennan, Amaya Laucirica, Tom Baker & Gareth Skinner.

References

External links

Official Twitter Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sand Pebbles Musical groups established in 2001 Australian rock music groups