SPACE

Space are a British band from Liverpool, who formed in 1992 initially as a trio of Tommy Scott (vocals, bass, guitar), Jamie Murphy (vocals, guitar) and Jamie Island (drums), who was later replaced by Andy Parle. Keyboard player Franny Griffiths joined the line-up a year later, and the band rose to prominence throughout the mid-1990s with hit singles such as "Female of the Species", "Me and You Versus the World", "Neighbourhood", "Avenging Angels" and "The Ballad of Tom Jones", the latter a duet with Cerys Matthews of Catatonia. Although the band's initial work drew comparisons to 1960s guitar groups such as The Kinks and The Who, which got them thrown in with the emerging Britpop scene, Space disregarded the term and pursued a more eclectic sound dubbed "queasy listening" by critics, embracing electronica and sampling in their work and drawing from genres as diverse as hip hop, techno, post-punk, ska, lounge music, easy listening and film scores, the result of the differing tastes between bandmembers. The group also became known for their deliberately tongue-in-cheek, dark humoured lyrics, which were inspired by Scott's love of cinema, and frequently dealt with topics such as serial killers, failed relationships, social outcasts, and mental illness. Whilst Space's eclecticism and camp humour polarised listeners and critics, they have maintained a devoted cult following. Space experienced several lineup changes, with Scott being the only consistent member. The band recorded four studio albums; their first two albums, Spiders (1996) and Tin Planet (1998), were both commercially successful and went platinum in the UK, whilst their proposed third, Love You More than Football, experienced production problems and was shelved before it was due for release; plus a number of charting singles. The band disbanded in 2005, following low sales and a lukewarm reception to their fourth album Suburban Rock 'n' Roll (2004), which has in recent years been reevaluated as the band's best. Scott went on to form The Drellas, which in 2011 morphed into the second incarnation of Space after Griffiths (and briefly Murphy) joined the group. Space have continued to release studio albums, including Attack of the Mutant 50ft Kebab (2014) and Give Me Your Future (2017). In 2019, twenty years after it was recorded, Love You More than Football was officially released as part of a career-spanning Anthology boxset. The band's most recent album, Music for Pleasure Music for Pain, was released in 2021.