Nosferatu D2 were an English indie rock band from Croydon, Surrey, England. They were active from 2005 to 2007 and remained unsigned during that time.[1][2][3] The band experienced posthumous acclaim and interest when the debuting Audio Antihero record label issued their unreleased debut album We're Gonna Walk Around This City With Our Headphones On To Block Out The Noise.[4][5][6]
Brothers, Ben (guitar/vocals) and Adam Parker (drums) originally made music together in a trio called Tempertwig.[7][8][9] They performed live in London[10] and released several demos and a 7" split with Air Formation)[11][12][13] which was aired on BBC Radio 1 by Steve Lamacq.[14][15] The band split in 2004.[16][17]
In 2009, Nosferatu D2's unreleased We're Gonna Walk Around This City With Our Headphones On To Block Out The Noise album was issued by the newly-founded Audio Antihero record label, more than two years after they had separated.[28]
The album itself was critically acclaimed. Drowned In Sound gave it 9/10 and called it "some kind of alchemy, not to be repeated";[3]The 405 awarded them 9/10 and suggested it could: "one of those forgotten albums that will be hailed as influential come five or ten years";[31]This Is Fake DIY graded it 8/10,[32] The Music Fix described it as a "lo-fi masterpiece" with a 9/10 grading;[33] Music Emissions graded it 10/10;[18]The Organ stated "I do like this, like it lots actually",[34] Scotland's The Skinny awarded it 4/5;[35] and The Line Of Best Fit stated that "your record collection is incomplete without its inclusion."[5] Gareth Campesinos! again praised the album on Pitchfork in his best of 2009 picks.[2]
The album and its story subsequently became the several radio features. In January 2011, Tom Robinson interviewed Ben Parker and Audio Antihero's Jamie Halliday about the album on the "I Need An Antihero" edition of BBC Introducing;[6][15] in August 2011, Miami's WVUMFM aired an Audio Antihero special with Jamie Halliday on Nosferatu D2 and others;[41] and in August 2012 BBC World Service/PRI's "The World" produced a feature story on the Nosferatu D2 album which included interviews with the artist and label.[4][50]
The album was the subject of a "Buried Treasures" article for the Faded Glamour culture site[51] and a "Lost Bands" article in Rhubarb Bomb's "The City Consumes Us (2007-2012)" book.[52][53] Label-mate Benjamin Shaw would also cover their "It's Christmas Time (For God's Sake)".[54]
In September 2012, the band re-issued remastered recordings of their final show as "Nosferatu D2 – Live At The Spitz" through Audio Antihero.[65][66]
In 2015, their debut album was reissued on cassette by Audio Antihero alongside an EP of non-album recordings entitled "Older, Wiser, Sadder" – which was praised by Drowned in Sound.[67][68]
Other projects from the Parker brothers
In March 2019, Audio Antihero and Randy Sadage Records compiled the majority of the Tempertwig recordings for the "Fake Nostalgia: An Anthology of Broken Stuff" release.[69][70][71] The compilation album was followed with the "Films Without Plotlines" EP which contained their remaining unreleased recordings.[72][73][74]
Post-Nosferatu D2, Ben and Adam Parker reunited for the There is Nothing More Frightening Than the Passing of Time album by The Superman Revenge Squad Band, an expanded version of Ben Parker's Superman Revenge Squad solo project.[80][81] The album received positive reviews from Bearded Magazine[82] and others[83][84] and FM4[85] and Gideon Coe, Tom Robinson and Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music.[86][87][88]
In 2023, Ben and Adam Parker announced their participation in a new group called My Best Unbeaten Brother.[89][90][91] In May of that year, they self-released "The Practice Room Recordings"[92][93] before contributing a new song to Joyzine's "20 Years of Joy Vol. 2" compilation,[94][95] which was then released as a standalone single.[96][97][98]
My Best Unbeaten Brother announced their debut mini-album 'Pessimistic Pizza' for a June 28th release via Audio Antihero.[99][100][101] It was preceded by the singles "Time on Our Hands, Spider-Man," "Extraordinary Times," and "Blues Fatigue."[102] The new material was covered by sites like The Post, Post-Trash, The Alternative, Merry-Go-Round Magazine, Muso's Guide, and God Is in the TV, [103][104][105] and played on stations including WKDU, WIDR, WZBC, KXFM, KXFS-LP, and Resonance FM.[106][107][108] The group also recorded a radio session for Mark Whitby's June Dandelion Radio show.[109][110][111]
Discography
Albums and EPs
We're Gonna Walk Around This City With Our Headphones On to Block Out the Noise (Audio Antihero, 2009)
Older, Wiser, Sadder – EP (Audio Antihero, 2015)
Live albums
Live at the Spitz (05/03/2007) (Audio Antihero, 2012)
Compilation appearances
Bob Hope Would|Bob Hope Would – for Japan (Audio Antihero, 2011) – contributes "The Kids From FAME" / "Older, Wiser, Sadder" / "A Man at War With Himself"
Christmas In Haworth: An Advent Calendar from Darren Hayman, Fika Recordings and Friends (Fika Recordings, 2011) - contributes "It's Christmas Time (For God's Sake)"
Some.Alternate.Universe – for FSID (Audio Antihero, 2012) – contributes "A Footnote" (Demo)
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