Lowlife (band)

Lowlife was a Scottish alternative rock/dream pop band, active from 1985 to 1997. Although the group never obtained mainstream popularity, they developed a cult following that continues to this day.

Pre Lowlife

Dead Neighbours was an early-1980s psychobilly band from Grangemouth, Scotland, originally consisting of Craig Lorentson (vocals), David Steel (bass), Ronnie Buchanan (guitar), and Grant McDowall (drums). The band was managed by Brian Guthrie, brother of Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins, and had recorded an album, Harmony in Hell (1982), that briefly hit the lower regions of the UK independent record charts.

In 1983, Steel left the Dead Neighbours in the middle of recording the band’s second album, Strangedays/Strangeways. Upon learning that Cocteau Twins founding member and bassist Will Heggie had recently departed that band (after a lengthy and reportedly difficult European tour), Guthrie asked Heggie to help Dead Neighbours out in finishing the album’s recording, and join them on a tour opening for Johnny Thunders. Heggie agreed and, after the album was completed and the tour was done, he stayed on and began rehearsing new material with the band. Guthrie noticed that with Heggie, the entire chemistry of the group suddenly changed and they began forging a completely new, atmospheric sound very different from their original Cramps-influenced beginnings. Apparently unhappy with the direction they were clearly aiming for, Buchanan abruptly departed the band. A new guitarist was brought in, Stuart Everest, who adapted quickly to the band’s updated vision. In 1984, the group retired the Dead Neighbours moniker for good and rechristened themselves as Lowlife.

+/- (band)

+/-, or Plus/Minus, is an American indietronic band formed in 2001. The band makes use of both electronic and traditional instruments, and has sought to use electronics to recreate traditional indie rock song forms and instrumental structures. The group has released two albums on each of the American indie labels Teenbeat Records and Absolutely Kosher, and their track "All I do" was prominently featured in the soundtrack for the major film Wicker Park. The group has developed a devoted following in Japan and Taiwan, and has toured there frequently. Although many artists append bonus tracks onto the end of Japanese album releases to discourage purchasers from buying cheaper US import versions, the overseas versions of +/- albums are usually quite different from the US versions - tracklists can be rearranged, artwork with noticeable changes is used, and tracks from the US version can be replaced as well as augmented by bonus tracks.

History

Bandō

Bandō may refer to:

People

Other

See also

Bando (disambiguation)

!!!

!!! is a dance-punk band that formed in Sacramento, California, in 1996 by lead singer Nic Offer. Its name is most commonly pronounced "Chk Chk Chk" ([/tʃk.tʃk.tʃk/]). Members of !!! came from other local bands such as The Yah Mos, Black Liquorice and Popesmashers. They are currently based in New York City, Sacramento, and Portland, Oregon. The band's sixth full-length album, As If, was released in October 2015.

Background and history

!!! is an American band formed in the summer of 1995 by the merger of part of the group Black Liquorice and Popesmashers. After a successful joint tour, these two teams decided to mix the disco-funk with more aggressive sounds and integrate the hardcore singer Nic Offer from the The Yah Mos. The band's name was inspired by the subtitles of the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy, in which the clicking sounds of the Bushmens' Khoisan language were represented as "!". However, as the bandmembers themselves say, !!! is pronounced by repeating thrice any monosyllabic sound. "Chk Chk Chk" is the most common pronunciation, which the URL of their official website and the title of their Myspace page suggest is the preferred pronunciation.

Low-life

A low-life or lowlife is a term for a person who is considered morally unacceptable by their community. Examples of people who are often called "lowlifes" are thieves, drug dealers, hustlers, freeloaders, scammers, gangsters, gangster girls, drug users, alcoholics, thugs, underage mothers, prostitutes and pimps.

Often, the term is used as an indication of disapproval of antisocial or destructive behaviors, usually bearing a connotation of contempt and derision. This usage of the word dates to 1911.

Repudiation

Upwardly mobile members of an ethnic group, committed to schooling, education and employment prospects, will often repudiate as lowlifes those who opt instead (willingly or unwillingly) for street or gang life.

Attraction

The lure of the low-life for those in established social strata has been a perennial feature of western history: it can be traced from the Neronian aristocrat described by Juvenal as only at home in stables and taverns - “you'll find him near a gangster, cheek by jowl, mingling with lascars, thieves and convicts on the run” - through the Elizabethan interest in cony-catching, up to William Burroughs' obsession with the hobo, bum, or urban outlaw, and through to the anti-heroes of Cyberpunk.

Lowlife (comics)

Lowlife is a semi-autobiographical comic book series written and drawn by Ed Brubaker, published by Slave Labor Graphics and later Caliber Comics. Collected editions were put out by Aeon Press and Black Eye Books.

Synopsis

The Comics Journal described the book as following the "frustration and cynicism of disenchanted slacker kids finding excitement in their uneventful lives."

Development

Lowlife was Brubaker's first professional work. The work is semi-autobiographical, based upon the lives of the author and his friends but "with the names changed."

Influences on later work

Brubaker cited his work here as an influence on later works: "I'm exploring the same themes in my Batman comics and my Catwoman comics that I was probably exploring in Lowlife: family relationships, personal relationships, people not being able to escape their past. . . .That's the stuff that interests me, and that's the stuff I write about."

Critical reaction

Lowlife was described by The Stranger as "Part fiction, part autobiography, the narratives hover between sincerity and parody, with moments of transcendence that lift it out of the realm of the ordinary comic book."

Theory of a Deadman discography

This is the discography of the Canadian rock band Theory of a Deadman. So far, they have released five albums and have had twenty-eight singles released.

Theory of a Deadman is a Canadian rock band from Delta, British Columbia signed to Roadrunner Records. The band also includes traits of other music styles, such as country, metal and more acoustic elements. The band's lead singer, Tyler Connolly, gave Nickelback's Chad Kroeger a demo tape of their music while at an after-show party. He liked it, so he gave the band a record deal under his label, 604 Records and Roadrunner Records.

Studio albums

Singles

Promotional Single

Other charted songs

Music videos

References