Bearsuit

Infobox musical artist
Name = Bearsuit


Img_capt =
Img_size = 300
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Birth_name =
Alias =
Born =
Died =
Origin = Norwich, England
Instrument =
Voice_type =
Genre = Indie pop
Occupation =
Years_active = 2001 – present
Label =
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.bearsuit.co.uk/ bearsuit.co.uk/]
Current_members = Iain Ross
Lisa Horton
Richard Squires
Jan Robertson
Matt Hutchings
Cerian Hutchings
Past_members = Matt Moss "(2001 - 2004)"
Notable_instruments =

Bearsuit are an indie band from Norwich, UK. They currently release records on the Fantastic Plastic and Fortuna Pop! labels in the UK and Micro Indie in the US. They have also released records under their own "Bearslut" label, and many of their 7 inch singles were released through the Sickroom Gramaphonic Collective (Sickroom GC). Like nearly every other band in this genre, they have frequently been compared to Scottish indie giants Belle And Sebastian [cite web
last =Shaul
first =Aaron
title =Cat Spectacular
publisher =Ink 19
month =May | year =2005
url =http://www.ink19.com/issues/may2005/musicReviews/musicB/bearsuit.html
accessdate =2007-03-21 ] but have a style very much their own, mixing sweet indie-pop melodies, stop-start rhythms, quirky electronics, and lots of noise. A still better comparison would be to the Australian octet Architecture in Helsinki.

Biography

Since playing their first gig in 2001 the band have notched up four Radio 1 sessions on the John Peel show [cite web
title =Keeping it Peel
publisher =BBC
url =http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/b/bearsuit/
accessdate =2007-03-21 ] and three Festive Fifty top five hits in four years. "Hey Charlie, Hey Chuck" reached number 4 in 2001, "Itsuko Got Married" reached number 5 in 2003 and they reached the number 2 slot the following year with "Chargr" [cite web
title =Festive 50s
publisher =BBC
year =2007
url =http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/festive50s/
accessdate =2007-03-21 ] .

The band released their debut album "Cat Spectacular!" in May 2004 in UK/Europe and in the US in March 2005. The independent record label Cherryade, home of the artists Steveless and The Bobby McGee's, was named after the Bearsuit track "Cherryade", taken from this album. In Summer 2004 the six-piece took their tunes to Sweden's art-rock noise-pop festival Emmaboda; where they played alongside Kaito and Deerhoof, before playing dates in Amsterdam with Magoo. In October 2005 they released compilation album, "Team Ping Pong", a collection of songs previously only released on 7" singles. Their second album proper, "oh:io", was released by Fantastic Plastic in September 2007, preceded by a 7" picture disc, "More Soul Than Wigan Casino".

Members of Bearsuit also play in a variety of other bands including Cruiser Chimps, The Aprons, keytar-only group Keytarded and the now-defunct Hyper Kinako.

Band members

Current members

*Lisa Horton — keyboards, vocals, theremin, accordion, keytar
*Matt Hutchings — drums
*Cerian Hutchings (née Hamer) — cornet, violin, keyboards, vocals, piano, percussion
*Jan Robertson — guitar, flute, keyboards, percussion, samples, vocals, bass
*Iain "Mouse" Ross — guitar, korg, vocals
*Richard Squires — bass, guitar, vocals

Past members

*Matt Moss — bass (until 2004)Also a member of Lethargic Pigeon and The Rebeccas.

Discography

Albums

*"Cat Spectacular!" (Fortuna Pop!, 2004)
*"Team Ping Pong" (Fantastic Plastic, 2005)
*"oh:io" (Fantastic Plastic, 2007)

ingles

*"Hey Charlie Hey Chuck" (Sickroom GC, 2001)
*"Drinkink" (Sickroom GC, 2002)
*"Stop What You're Doing What You're Doing Is Wrong" (Sickroom GC, 2002)
*"Itsuko Got Married" (Bearsuit recordings, 2003)
*"The Bearsuit Jesus Will Spear You Through The Heart" EP (Fortuna Pop!, 2003)
*"Chargr!" (Fortuna POP!, 2004)
*"Steven Fucking Spielberg" (Fantastic Plastic, 2006)
*"More Soul Than Wigan Casino" (Fantastic Plastic, 2007) #24 UK Indie
*"Foxy Boxer" (Fantastic Plastic, 2007) #13 UK Indie

Compilations

*"The Gazumper" (Sickroom GC, 2001)
*"Snowshoe" on "Should you be singing Christmas songs?" (Happy Capitalist, 2001)
*"Come Around" on "GoJonnyGoGoGoGo" (2001)
*"Drinkink" on "Blip Anomaly" (Sickroom GC, 2001)
*"Poor Prince Neal" on "GoJonnyGoGoGoGo2" (2002)
*"Little Donkey" on "A Christmas Gift from Fortuna Pop!" (Fortuna POP!, 2002)
*"On Your Special Day" on "I'm With Cupid" (WIAIWYA records, 2004)
*"Rodent Disco" on "GoJonnyGoGoGoGo" Favourites #1 (2005)
*edited version of "Rodent Disco" on "Que Viva le Pop!" (Elefant Records/Fortuna POP!, 2006)

References

External links

* [http://www.bearsuit.co.uk Official Site]
* [http://www.fantasticplasticrecords.com Fantastic Plastic Records]
* [http://www.myspace.com/bearsuit Bearsuit MySpace site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/keytardedband Keytarded MySpace site]