This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2009) |
Puressence | |
---|---|
Origin | Failsworth, Greater Manchester, England |
Genres | Alternative rock, indie rock |
Years active | 1992–2013 |
Labels | Island 2 Damn Loud Reaction Caserta Red |
Past members | James Mudriczki Kevin Matthews Tony Szuminski Neil McDonald (1991–2003) Lowell Killen (2003–2013) |
Website | puressence |
Puressence are a British rock band from Failsworth, Greater Manchester, England, formed in May 1992. [1]
The band, at their break-up, consisted of:
James Mudriczki, Neil McDonald, Anthony Szuminski and Kevin Matthews met on a bus on their way to watch The Stone Roses play at Spike Island. [1]
Through much practice their music developed and they decided on the name Puressence, a name instantly identified by most Mancunians for the paper letters 'P'-'U'-'R'-'E'-'S'-'S'-'E'-'N'-'C'-'E', which were plastered around Manchester city centre, on derelict buildings, and on bridges (the most notable being the railway bridge opposite the Haçienda).[ citation needed ] Manchester independent record label 2 Damn Loud released two singles and there was a further single with Rough Trade Singles Club. The band played a series of gigs at Manchester's In The City festival early in the 1990s.
The big breakthrough came a couple of years later, when the band signed to Island Records. [1]
In August 2003, after more than ten years with Puressence, guitarist and founder member McDonald left the band and has since gone on to form the band Juno Ashes. [2] He was replaced by Lowell Killen, who is originally from the Isle of Man. He has played in other bands and left Manchester band Dry Riser to join Puressence.
In 2004, the band played at The Witchwood in Ashton-under-Lyne. [3]
In 2006, the band released a single titled "Palisades" on new Manchester label Reaction, followed by an album, Don't Forget To Remember, in September 2007.
On 10 and 11 September 2008 Puressence played their first shows in the US. The first was at the Mercury Lounge in New York City. The next night they played the Apple Store in SoHo. The opening song at the Mercury Lounge was "I Suppose". They passed out free CD singles of "Don't Know Any Better" to many fans around the United States.
In October 2010 the band's website announced details of a new album, Solid State Recital, which was released on 21 April 2011. [4]
On 27 November 2013, Puressence announced they had split. [5]
Since the split, James Mudriczki has been working on a solo album whilst contributing vocals to two tracks on The Red-Sided Garter Snakes 2015 album, Endless Sea. [6] In 2015, it was announced that Mudriczki has formed a new band called The Nihilists. The line up includes Mudriczki on vocals, Steven Kelly on guitars and programming and John Patterson who is the drummer and multi instrumentalist.
On 20 November 2023, 10 years after their split, the band announced on their Facebook page that their first concert in 11 years will take place in their hometown of Manchester in June 2024.
Prior to releasing these albums, Puressence released two singles and an EP. First the double A-side "Siamese" / "Scapa Flow" was released through Rough Trade. Then followed the EPs Petrol Skin and Offshore, both released through 2 Damn Loud Records.
Toby Chalmers of Island Records offered them a recording contract. Support slots to Marion introduced them to new supporters. [7]
In May 1995, the band released the "I Suppose" single on Island without chart success. A few months later they returned with the "Fire" single, which again failed to sell. The tracks though did herald Puressence's self-titled debut album.
The album also produced three more singles, "India", "Traffic Jam in Memory Lane" and "Casting Lazy Shadows." (The album only contained ten tracks, of which they had released five as singles.)
Released: April 1996
The album displayed a shift in Puressence's style. Mani, bassist for the Stone Roses and Primal Scream, appeared as record producer on "Standing in Your Shadow."
"This Feeling" proved to be a hit for the band, when it reached number 33 in the UK Singles Chart, helping the band appear on television programmes such as TFI Friday and Soccer AM . BBC Radio 1 DJ Simon Mayo made this his single of the week and it received airplay on numerous radio stations around the UK. The second single "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" fell just short of the Top 40. But the third single "All I Want" scraped in at No. 39, its second CD was joined as a double A-side with "Never Be The Same Again".
The album peaked in the UK Albums Chart at No. 36.
Don’t Know Any Better Anthology is an unofficial Puressence release. The collection was compiled by fans of the band and distributed over the Internet.
Contains:
Emotion, Petrol Skin, Mist, Scapa Flow, Siamese, Telekinesis, Suck The Knife, Fifteen Years, Bright Star,
Black Snow, All Star, Moss Side Lonely, Only Holy Maybe, Let Down, Offshore, and many more.
This collection contains more than 70 songs, studio versions, demos or live rarities from radio.
Planet Helpless peaked in the UK Albums Chart at No. 81, it did enjoy success in Greece (#4 in the album charts) and heralded a number of gigs, mainly in Manchester. Puressence chose to sack their manager and leave Island Records in February 2002.
Planet Helpless, due to the ongoing problems with the record company, released only one single. "Walking Dead" gave the band its third Top 40 hit. The video included Mani and Bez (Happy Mondays).
Puressence's fourth album, entitled Don't Forget To Remember, was recorded at Revolution studios in Manchester and produced by Andy Macpherson.
The album was released on 24 September 2007. Despite failing to chart, the album beat off more high-profile releases to be voted 'Best Album by a Manchester Artist' in the Pride of Manchester Awards 2008. The album was then chosen by US iTunes to launch their new homepage feature, 'Editors Choice' in February 2008. [8] Within a week the album entered US iTunes' Top 40. [9] Puressence played a Manchester Academy show to celebrate English Rugby and Soccer team wins on 13 October 2007.
The album was also a success in Greece; remaining in the Top 10 for several weeks.
Originally appearing as a soft release in 2007, it was announced that Don't Forget to Remember got a wide release on 16 June.
The album peaked in the UK Albums Chart at No. 176.
Released: 24 September 2007
Revolution studios
Released: in mid-October 2009
Sharpen Up the Knives was a fifteen track album collection consisting of singles, album tracks and a couple of new recordings.
Track listing:
Released: 2 May 2011
Caserta Red
In August 2003, after more than 12 years with Puressence, guitarist and founding member McDonald left the band. He was replaced by Lowell Killen. Puressence decided to leave Island Records and sign with a new Manchester label called Reaction. They played many gigs throughout 2003 in support of the album Planet Helpless. In the summer of 2003 they also played in The Move Festival in Manchester's Old Trafford Cricket ground. They followed this up by supporting Suede, Iggy Pop and Depeche Mode in Greece. Puressence have now set up their own label calling it Caserta Red Records.
Date | Album | UK Albums Chart [10] | Greece Albums Chart |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | Puressence | - | - |
1998 | Only Forever | 36 | - |
2002 | Planet Helpless | 81 | 4 |
2007 | Don't Forget to Remember | 176 | 7 |
2009 | Sharpen Up the Knives | - | 4 |
2011 | Solid State Recital | - | - |
Year | Song | UK Singles Chart [10] | UK Indie singles | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | "Siamese" / "Scapa Flow" | - | - | - |
"Petrol Skin EP" | - | - | Petrol Skin EP | |
1993 | "Offshore" | - | - | - |
1995 | "I Suppose" | 190 | - | Puressence |
"Fire" | 99 | - | ||
1996 | "India" | 98 | - | |
"Traffic Jam in Memory Lane" | 95 | - | ||
"Casting Lazy Shadows" | 82 | - | ||
1998 | "This Feeling" | 33 | - | Only Forever |
"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" | 47 | - | ||
"All I Want" | 39 | - | ||
"All I Want" / "Never Be the Same Again" | 39 | - | ||
2002 | "Walking Dead" | 40 | - | Planet Helpless |
2006 | "Palisades" / "Moonbeam" | 106 | 5 | Don't Forget to Remember |
2007 | "Drop Down to Earth" | 56 | - | |
2008 | "Don't Know Any Better" | 109 | - |
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Bolton in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They achieved commercial success with singles that fuse pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy; these singles were later collected on Singles Going Steady, an acclaimed compilation album music journalist and critic Ned Raggett described as a "punk masterpiece".
The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester, England in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Mani, and drummer Reni.
Ocean Colour Scene are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1989. They have had five top 10 albums including a number one in 1997. They have also achieved seventeen top 40 singles and six top 10 singles to date.
Black Grape are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1993, featuring former members of Happy Mondays and Ruthless Rap Assassins. Their musical style fuses funk and electronic rock with electronic programming and samples.
Arab Strap are a Scottish indie rock band whose core members are Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, split in 2006 and reformed in 2016. The band signed to Rock Action Records in 2020.
The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth member, Richard Payne, came on board between 1998 and 2002. The band was originally named "The Bottlegarden".
The Ruts are an English reggae-influenced punk rock band, notable for the 1979 UK top 10 hit single "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was highly regarded and regularly played by BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel. The band's newfound success was cut short by the death of lead singer Malcolm Owen from a heroin overdose in 1980. Despite this the band continued under a different musical style as Ruts D.C. until 1983 when they disbanded. The band reformed in 2007.
The Farm are a British band from Liverpool. Their first album, Spartacus, reached the top position on the UK Albums Chart when it was released in March 1991; Spartacus 30 was released in 2021 to commemorate the anniversary. Spartacus includes two songs which had been top 10 singles the year before. In 2012, they toured with their Spartacus Live shows and formed part of the Justice Tonight Band, supporting the Stone Roses at Heaton Park, Phoenix Park, Lyon and Milan. The Justice Collective had the 2012 Christmas number one with their recording of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother".
MTV EMA award winners – GUN, were formed in Scotland by guitarist Giuliano Gizzi. Known for their compelling blend of rock, and a string of hits that have charted across Europe, GUN has consistently been a force in the music industry. During their career GUN have achieved 4 UK top 20 albums and 8 UK top 40 singles including a cover of Cameo’s Word Up which reached the UK top 10, and charted all over Europe. GUN has toured extensively over the years, most notably with The Rolling Stones on their Steel Wheels & Urban Jungle tours.
"Let There Be Love" is a song by English rock band Oasis from their sixth studio album, Don't Believe the Truth (2005). Written by Noel Gallagher, it is the third and the last Oasis song to feature Liam and Noel on lead vocals, the first being "Acquiesce" and the second being "Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is". It was released on 28 November 2005 as the third and final single from the album in the United Kingdom and as the second single in the United States.
Anti-Pasti was a British punk rock band, founded by vocalist Martin Roper and guitarist Dugi Bell in 1978, featuring Kev Nixon on drums and Will Hoon on bass guitar. Later they were joined by a second guitarist, Ollie Hoon. Their first album, The Last Call, spent seven weeks in the UK Albums Chart, peaking at No. 31. Roper left the band in 1982, and Anti-Pasti effectively ended until reformations in both 1995 and 2012.
The Music were an English alternative rock band, formed in Kippax, Leeds in 1999. Comprising Robert Harvey, Adam Nutter, Stuart Coleman (bass) and Phil Jordan (drums), the band came to prominence with the release of their self-titled debut album in 2002. The band released two further studio albums, Welcome to the North (2004) and Strength in Numbers (2008), before parting ways in 2011.
Guillemots are a British indie rock band formed in November 2004, originally a four-piece of Fyfe Dangerfield, MC Lord Magrão, Aristazabal Hawkes and Greig Stewart. The band are based in London, with members coming from England, Brazil, Canada and Scotland respectively.
Straw was an English post-Britpop band that released one album, Shoplifting, in 1999.
Only Forever is the second album by English alternative rock band Puressence, released in 1998. Only Forever displayed a clear shift in Puressence's style, It captured the group in a more positive, lighter, chart-friendly mood. The album charted at #36, this was largely thanks to the amount of play that the first single "This Feeling" received including Radio 1 and MTV.
Planet Helpless is the third album by English alternative rock band Puressence, released in 2002. "Walking Dead" was the only single released from the album. The second single was penned as "She's Gotten Over You" but was not released due to the band leaving Island Records after Planet Helpless had been released.
Courteeners are an English band formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in 2006 by Liam Fray, Michael Campbell, Daniel "Conan" Moores and Mark Cuppello (bass); the last was replaced by the band's producer Joe Cross in 2015. They previously toured with pianist Adam Payne, who has been featured on every album, but in 2019 was replaced with Elina Lin. In December 2012, the band dropped "The" from their name, continuing simply as "Courteeners". In 2024, Cross and Lin became official members of the band.
Don't Forget to Remember is the fourth album by the English alternative rock band Puressence which was released on 24 September 2007.
Sharpen Up the Knives is a compilation album by the English alternative rock band Puressence. The album's track listing consists mostly of tracks from their Island period, with some unreleased tracks including Che which singer James Mudriczki recorded for a Judy Collins tribute album.
Solid State Recital is the fifth studio album from Puressence. It was also their last album as they split two years after its release and associated tour. The album features Judy Collins on two tracks after she became friendly with the band when James Mudriczki covered her song Che for a tribute album to her.