Elastica were a six-member band based in London in the 1990s. Their music was heavily influenced by Wire, Pavement, The Fall, Blondie, Adam and the Ants, The Buzzcocks, and The Stranglers, leaving it somewhere between indie and punk, with a splash of Britpop on the side. If you listen carefully to their more recent songs, you can also hear the electro influence which joined the band at the same time that Sharon Mew did.

The History

1990-1995

In 1990, Justine Frischmann and her boyfriend Brett Anderson formed an indie band, which Justine named "Suede". Justine was Suede's original guitarist, but after she and Brett ended their relationship, she left the band¹. Justin Welch also left Suede, and in October 1991, the two of them formed Elastica, putting Justine on lead guitar and vocals, and Justine on drums. By putting advertisements in Melody Maker magazine, they had recruited Annie Holland (bass guitar) and Donna Matthews (guitar and vocals) by 1993. They played their first gig in May, and, after a few more gigs, they had made a handshake deal with Deceptive Records.

Even before they had released a single, Elastica were a known band. They had been a support act for Blur, the most popular band of the year, and also had played many gigs around London. They were on their first tour in October 1993.

Elastica's first single, the short and snappy Stutter, was released on Deceptive Records in November 1993, as a limited edition on 7" vinyl only. It sold out.

The first tour ended in early November, but only ten days later were they on tour again - supporting Pulp.

In January 1994, they released Line Up, which also sold very well, entering the charts at number 20, even though critics claimed that the tune had been stolen from Wire's I Am The Fly. In May, they signed a record deal with Geffen Records, and later that year Stutter was released in the USA.

Their name was still known because Justine was going out with Damon Albarn (lead singer of Blur, who were still popular). They were voted by the readers of Melody Maker magazine and New Music Express magazine as Best New Band. In the autumn, they released their third UK single, Connection, which charted at number 17. The riff of Connection was also allegedly stolen from a Wire song - this time from Three Girl Rhumba.

These allegations lead to problems for the band. In March 1995, on the eve of the release of their first album, they were taken to court in March 1995, the night before their first album was to be released. However, both cases were settled outside court, and the album, titled Elastica, was released.

The album shot straight to Number One in the album charts, and became the fastest-selling UK debut album ever, beating even Oasis' album Definitely Maybe released the previous year. Soon after the album was released in England, Connection was released in America, and although it was quite popular, it only reached the Top 60 in the charts.

Elastica then moved on to join the Lollapalooza tour in America later in 1995, replacing Sinead O'Connor. They were working their way up the American ladder - but on the 6th of August, Annie announced that she was leaving the group, saying that, along with bad RSI, she really couldn't take the pressure of it all. She was temporarily replaced by Abby Travis from Los Angeles, who only stayed with Elastica for the tour. During this time, the band also gained another short-term member - Anthony Genn. He was in for keyboards - but he mucked about most of the time and was really only there for entertainment!

1996-2001

Not much was happening musically in the group since Annie had left - as they could barely carry on without a bassist. So they began a search - or at least, Justine did.

In 1996, she phoned Dave Bush, who used to play keyboards in The Fall. She managed to convince him to play keyboards in Elastica, too. By 1997, Sheila Chipperfield² had replaced Annie. She had been too shy to apply for position of bassist herself, and she only got into the band because her sister met Donna at a Rage Against The Machine gig.

Justine met Paul Jones at a party, and they discovered that they had similar tastes in music. She had previously seen Paul playing guitar with his own band, Linoleum. Not long after this meeting, she phoned him and asked him to play in Elastica, too.

The band also acquired Sharon Mew (known as Mew) around this time. She and Justine met through mutual friends, and she plays synth and also sings backing vocals.

By this time, Donna and Justine weren't getting on as well as they had before, and so Donna and Sheila began to write songs together. However, Justine and Annie had become good friends again, and Justine managed to talk her into coming back to Elastica. She finally rejoined the group in 1998. This meant that Sheila had to leave.

Now, Donna had become quite chummy with Sheila, and so she wasn't very happy when Sheila had to leave. Donna herself left Elastica in Autumn 1998.

Four years after their last release, Elastica finally released a 6-Track EP, which was cunningly titled 6 Track EP (see below).

Up until their second album, The Menace, was released in April 2000, Elastica were busy recording in the studio, occasionally making television appearances and giving finished tracks to John Peel so that he could play them on Radio One.

To be added soon -

Festivals - Reading (2000 and before), Leeds, Glastonbury, etc

US Tour just finished

Dropped by Geffen.

Mark E. Smith, he's important but who exactly IS he?
Peel Sessions perhaps

Unheard Music with Pavement

Deceptive dissolving.

Justine touring with Stephen Maulkmaustheaihgvegvl;hsrdwossisface.

Justine and that song with those people.
elasticated.com, the fans, the forums.
elasticaband.com, the official site, its closure - perhaps.

The Bitch Don't Work!

What have they done since? Solo material, Justin and Mew.

On February 4th, 2001, Deceptive Records ended, leaving Elastica without a record company. For a while, they claimed to be recording a third album, but on October 3rd 2001, Justine released a statement to the fans to inform them that Elastica had split.

The Albums

Elastica

6 Track EP

Three of the songs on this, How He Wrote Elastica Man, KB, and Generator, are songs which were in progress when the EP was released, the final versions of which would be included on the album, The Menace. Miami Nice was a home recording, which would also be played with before it was released on the next album. The same for Nothing Stays The Same, which was written by Donna. The other song, Operate, was a live song, which appears on no other official releases.

The Menace

The Radio One Sessions

Miscellany

• The name "Elastica" was thought up by Donna's flatmate, Jane Oliver. Previous names of the band included "Vaseline", "Onk", "S*****ca", "S*****s Society", "Kirby Grip", and "Dad".
• The name of the first album was to be chosen by the readers of Melody Maker magazine. Some of the ideas that came up were "Tie Me Up And Give Me Toast", "Edible Liar", and "Seven Xs And A Single Y"³. The band didn't really like these suggestions however, and called them "dreadful". The album was nearly called "Keys, Money And Fags", from a line in the song "Line Up", but this was rejected because the word "fag" has an entirely different meaning in American English⁴. It was then almost named "Eponymous", but in the end they settled for just "Elastica".
• Justine's dad was the architect who designed Canary Wharf!
• Donna was expelled from school at 14 for shaving her hair into a mohican and dying it orange.