Stapleton (band)

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Stapleton
Stapleton circa 2006.jpg
Stapleton, 2006
Background information
Origin Glasgow, Scotland
Genres Indie rock, emo, math rock
Years active1997—2008
Labels Xtra Mile Recordings
MembersAndrew Cook
Gordon Farquhar
Alistair Paxton
Nico Weststeijn

Stapleton was a rock band who come from Glasgow. They formed in April 1997 and released four albums and two EPs, on a number of independent record labels. The band consisted of Andrew Cook (guitar/vocals), Gordon Farquhar (drums/percussion), Alistair Paxton (vocals/guitar) and Nico Weststeijn (bass).

Contents

History

Stapleton, 2002 Stapleton circa 2002.jpg
Stapleton, 2002

Stapleton was formed in summer 1997 in Dumbarton by Gordon Farquhar, Alistair Paxton and Ian Arthur. [1]

The turn of the millennium brought an increase in touring for Stapleton, as well as a first full release; 'Rebuild The Pier' [2] on the English label Year 3 Thousand Records. Recorded at the Brill Building, Glasgow over two days by Richie Dempsey, Rebuild The Pier was critically acclaimed by national press [3] and has retrospectively been regarded as a pioneering, landmark record by many bands and individuals. [4] [5] The 2001 follow up, 'On The Enjoyment of Unpleasant Places', [6] achieved a similar status on its release through the legendary English label Subjugation Records. [7] Initial pressings of the record sold very quickly and, indeed, it remained out of print until a repackaged version (including the Icy You EP) was released in 2004. [8] In October 2001, they released the split EP The Boredom of Bread, The Fun of Cake with Norwegian band Beezewax. [9]

2002 saw the release of two EPs by Stapleton; firstly, the 'Icy You' EP, made up of songs from the 'On The Enjoyment' sessions, and secondly, the 'Chez Chef' EP, [10] recorded in London by Pat Collier and Larry Hibbitt. Stapleton toured prolifically around this time, supporting high-profile peers such as Idlewild, Snow Patrol and Hundred Reasons, as well as highly regarded independent touring bands like Lungfish, Weakerthans, Q and not U, Pedro The Lion, Tristeza and Burning Airlines. It was through a Glasgow show with Burning Airlines that Stapleton became involved with the esteemed musician and engineer J. Robbins.

May 2005 saw Stapleton record their third album, 'Hug The Coast', in Robbins' Baltimore studio, The Magpie Cage. Hug The Coast [11] was released in late 2005 on Gravity Records and contained artwork by Grammy nominated artist Jesse LeDoux. Following considerable touring, Stapleton chose to go on hiatus in Summer of 2006, though only after recording a fourth album 'Rest and be Thankful' with their friend and live engineer Robin Sutherland. Rest and be Thankful [12] was released in May 2008 on Xtra Mile Recordings, and was supported by a short UK tour. [13]

Since 2008, they have been on hiatus. [14]

Musical style

They have been categorised as indie rock, [15] [16] math rock [17] and emo. [18]

Their music contains disjointed rhythms, pop hooks, angular and [19] twinkly guitars, strained, emotional vocals, time signature changes and lyrics inspired by poetry. [20] Maximum Rocknroll writer Tom Hopkins described their album On The Enjoyment of Unpleasant Places as a "depressive take on the Promise Ring and Get Up Kids sound" and that it "could easily be one of the indie-rock releases put out by Jade Tree." [21]

They have cited influences including Jawbox, Fugazi, Superchunk, [22] Teenage Fanclub, Mineral, Built To Spill and the Shins. [23]

They have been cited as an influence by Hundred Reasons [24] and Johnny Foreigner. [25]

Discography

Studio albums

EPs and split singles

References

  1. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2002). The Great Scots Discography. Edinburgh: Mercat. p. 362. ISBN   9781841830414. Formed: Glasgow ... summer 1997 by Dumbarton lads AL PAXTON, GORDON FARQUHAR and IAN ARTHUR)
  2. ↑ "Stapleton – Rebuild The Pier (Year 3000) review on Collective Zine". Collective-zine.co.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "Stapleton – On The Enjoyment of Unpleasant Places / Subjugation from". Piccadilly Records. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "fmttm |". Fansonline.net. 12 July 2008. Archived from the original on 12 July 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Johnstone, Doug. "Stapleton – Nice 'n' Sleazy, Glasgow, Tue 8 Jul". The List. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  6. ↑ "Stapleton – On The Enjoyment of Unpleasant Places". Banquet Records.com. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Subjugation – CDs and Vinyl at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  8. ↑ "Punktastic CD Reviews: Stapleton – On the enjoyment of unpleasant places (re-release w/Icy You EP)". Punktastic.com. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  9. ↑ Remains, Russell (March–April 2002). "BEEZEWAX/ STAPLETON - Split CD/ 05:45". Fracture (20): 112.
  10. ↑ Chown, Stu (25 November 2003). "Stapleton – Chez Chef / Releases / Releases // Drowned in Sound". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "Gravity DIP Records". Gravitydip.com. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  12. ↑ "Stapleton – Rest And Be Thankful". Subba-cultcha.com. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  13. ↑ Feature by Dave Kerr. (24 June 2008). "Stapleton – Our Returning Champions". The Skinny. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  14. ↑ Jones, Dan. "Features – all the juicy bits!". Rockmidgets.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  15. ↑ Wiebenga, Marcel (2001). "V.A 2 fer a pound — CD —- 22 songs — with Knucklehead 'zin". Reflections (14): 92. My personal highlight on the CD is Stapleton, nice indie rock
  16. ↑ "Super winter tour: Statistics and Stapleton TEAM up". DrownedInSound. 19 September 2005. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  17. ↑ Dave, Monk (November 2000). "STAPELTON - "Rebuild The Pier" CD/ 35:05". Fracture (14): 76. There seemed to be too many structures per song and at the time | declared it "math rock!"
  18. ↑ "Stapleton "On the Enjoyment of Unpleasant Places" (Subjugation)". Unfit for Consumption (6): 34. 2002. Stapleton have served up a brilliant emo-driven record here.
  19. ↑ "Stapleton – On the enjoyment of unpleasant places (re-release w/Icy You EP)". www.punktastic.com.
  20. ↑ "Stapleton enjoyment of unpleasant places CD/LP". Fracture (17): 86. June–July 2001. bright and jangly guitars overlay time signatures that stop and start at will. Stapleton have the eye for a catchy tune and know how to blend it with poetic lyrics, vocals build from a murmur to emotion stained with ocassional harmonies
  21. ↑ Hopkins, Tom (April 2002). "Columns". Maximum Rocknroll (227): 18. this three piece has learned to enjoy the unpleasant place they are at as their music is a low-key, depressive take on the PROMISE RING and GET UP KIDS souna. Pop influenced but no pep to be found. This could easily be one of the indie-rock releases put out by Jade Tree.
  22. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2002). The Great Scots Discography. Edinburgh: Mercat. p. 362. ISBN   9781841830414. Influenced by the hard/emocore scene (FUGAZI, SUPERCHUNK and JAWBOX)
  23. ↑ ": : THISTIME RECORDS : STAPLETON : :". www.thistimerecords.com. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  24. ↑ Goodwin, Sharon. "Roofdog Interviews – Hundred Reasons...". Roofdog. We all come from different musical backgrounds and we all kind of educate each other on different musical styles. We all listen to Hum and Cave In and Stapleton
  25. ↑ "Johnny Foreigner on MySpace". Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
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