One day in 1992, when the only girls in music were riot grrls, Helen Love came into being. Swansea girl Helen Love was at college studying art and design with Sheena and Roxy when a mutual love of The Ramones encouraged them to get together and write some songs, which they then rehearsed in Helen's mum's kitchen. They quickly became the eponymously-named band, and less than a year later were signed by indie record label Damaged Goods.

The band like to keep their private lives private and aside from the eponymous Helen Love they don't even share their surnames with the world. Helen has also been quoted as saying that "we prefer being at home, making great songs rather than being in a club playing bad versions of them".

Although the band line-up changed over the years, vocalist Helen and guitarist Sheena have remained constant. Roxy, the bassist/keyboardist/drum machine programmer, left the band to move to France and was replaced by Mark, who in turn was replaced by Beth. At the time of writing, Beth is still in the band's keyboardist. Helen Love notably don't have a drummer, instead relying on a trusty Casio keyboard and the occasional drum machine to keep the beat.

With a mix of bubblegum punk-pop and seemingly naïve and idealistic lyrics, Helen Love have created a world where hot summer days, love, glitter and disco-dancing-punk-rock all come together as one.

Girl Power

Not going to dress up for you, I'm not going to pay your rent, Outside the sun is shining, I'm hanging out with my girlfriends.
- Formula One Racing Girls

Before the Spice Girls were even a blip on Simon Fuller's radar, Helen Love weren't just embracing 'girl power' - they invented the now-common phrase on their début single Formula One Racing Girls. The refrain 'girl power, girl power' was chanted throughout the song wherein the protagonist was no longer going to do anything just to please her boyfriend, instead she was going to have fun in the sunshine and hang out with her girlfriends. This pro-friendship approach would go on to epitomise the girl power movement which the Spice Girls spearheaded a couple of years later.

Joey Ramone

He said they'd live in New York and the stars would be their own, She was Debbie Harry and he was Joey Ramone.
- Debbie Love Joey

Even a cursory glance at, or a brief listen to, Helen Love's back catalogue would reveal their love for a certain shaggy haired New York punk-rocker. This is hardly surprising since lead singer Helen claims that she only listens to music made by The Ramones. Joey Ramone – lead singer of The Ramones until his death in 2001 – has been a constant influence on Helen Love's music since their incarnation, from songs such as Debbie Loves Joey¹ and Punk Boy² through to the simplistic structure and upbeat tempo of a typical Helen Love song.

DIY Aesthetic

Make a record in your home, you don't need a studio... Get some pictures, cut them out, paste them up and put it out.
- We Love You

From the very beginning Helen Love have had a homemade, lo-fi, DIY sense about them, from Sheena's brother posting cassette recordings of his sister's band to record companies to the pop-art cut'n'paste collages which make up their record sleeves. For the most part these still are vinyl records³ not just CDs. Helen Love have wholeheartedly embraced the idea of taking complete control of their own music from the writing and recording process right through to making their own album sleeves.

Discography

Over the years Helen Love have been signed to various different record labels and, to date, have released five full-length albums - Radio Hits (1994), Radio Hits 2 (1997), Love and Glitter, Hot Days and Music (2000), Radio Hits 3 (2002) and It's My Club And I'll Play What I Want (2007) - as well as numerous singles and EPs.

All of their albums and singles have not only been released on CD but also on limited edition multi-coloured vinyl, which are quickly snapped up by fans. Despite their fervent fanbase and having had their songs covered by high profile bands such as Ash, Helen Love have yet to bother the UK top 40 charts with their presence. They have, however, been a hit with the likes of the late John Peel appearing in his Festive Fifty no less than three times, Phil Jupitus and Dave Gorman - the latter two using Helen Love songs as theme music for their radio and stand-up shows. If anything, this lack of appreciation from the mainstream makes them all the more popular within indie circles up and down the UK.