Cosmic Scousers

The Cosmic Scouse Scene was a term created by the NME in the early 00’s to describe a bunch of young acts that were coming through the Liverpool scene at the time. Most of these bands were hugely influenced by the Los Angeles scene of the 60’s taking inspiration from the likes of The Byrds, Love & Captain Beefheart to name but a few. They also took influence from their own City with obvious choices (Searchers & Beatles) but also cult acts that Liverpool had produced in the 90’s such as Shack, The Stairs & The La’s. Heres a look at some of the key players from the short lived ‘Cosmic Scouse’ scene as well the trio of 90’s bands that never did get the recognition that they deserved.

The Stairs – Released the cult classic record ‘Mexican R n B’ in 1992 & a few singles/EP’s also. The Stairs were fronted by Edgar Jones (A.K.A EdgarSummertyme) who is a key figure of the past 20 years in the Liverpool scene & went on to work with the likes of Lee Mavers & Paul Weller. He formed The Big Kids which featured future ‘Cosmic Scousers’ with members of The Stands & The Zutons, he released a few LP’s with his band The Joneses in the mid 00’s & now has a new band called Free Peace that he is working on. Edgar has taken on many vocal styles over his career but it is his vocals with The Stairs where he managed to sound like a young Mick Jagger which I’ll always be most fond of.

The Bandits – Not one of the best bands Liverpool have ever produced but an important one. John Robinson and Gary Murphy of The Bandits run the The Bandwagon club once a month at the Zanzibar in Liverpool which was where the likes of The Coral, The Zutons, The Stands & Tramp Attack would often play. The Bandits only did release one record before breaking up, I must admit it wasn’t one of the best ever but had a few really good standout tracks & ‘The Warning’ was one of those.

The Stands – One of my favourite bands that Liverpool have produced in recent years. Had moderate success for a little while & were championed by Noel Gallagher. I saw the Stands almost twenty times over the course of maybe three years as they were always sensational live. The first time I saw them my jaw literally hit the ground during The Way She Does, it was like I was watching The Byrds. Both their LP’s were pretty good though I will always remember The Stands by what a terrific live act they were. Following the release of the second album half the band left & they were never the same live again for me. Howie Payne released a solo LP last year & the drummer Steve Pilgrim now performs with Paul Weller.

Shack – For my money, one of the best bands Britain has produced ever. They’ve never been very prolific but when the do release records they are almost always essential listening. Will always be a cult band as it seems they will never get anywhere near the recognition that they deserve. Waterpistol & Here’s Tom With The Weather are two of the best records I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing.

Tramp Attack –  Released two records in the 00’s. I still see they occasionally do the odd gig in Liverpool though I think that’s about as much as anyone will ever hear from them again which is a shame because they are a superb band. Their debut was one of those rare records that flys by in what feels like minutes with so many weird and wonderful ideas packed in that short amount of time. They were always alot of fun to see live although anytime I caught them in London there would usually only be about 10 people there including the support band but still, a cracking band that deserved a hell of alot more success than they received.

The Hokum Clones –  2-piece acoustic/blues band, only released the one single (Breakin’ From A Jailhouse Blues/You Ain’t Foolin’ Me) in 2003. Had a few songs also released on Viper compilations. Saw these a bunch of times in the early 00’s and they were always really impressive, it’s a shame they never got to release a full length LP because it most probably would of been a classic.

The La’s –  So much has been said about The La’s, either they are a one hit wonder to you or Lee Mavers is a genius who will one day get off his arse & release these hundreds of songs he claims to have stored in his head. Personally & don’t think we’ll ever get another release from Mavers, the most we’ll see of him will be another half-arsed tour when he needs a few quid in his back pocket again but despite all this the importance of The La’s only LP can never be overstated. For my money one of the most perfect records ever made, Noel Gallagher credits the La’s as the band that started Britpop & the La’s debut must of been without a doubt one of the reasons most of the newer generation of Liverpool acts wanted to start a band in the first place. We’ll probably never hear any new material from The La’s but what’s the point when you’ve already reached perfection?

The Coral –  Out of all the bands I’ve mentioned above The Coral are the band that appear to of had the best career out of the lot of them. They’ve just released their sixth record despite still only being in their twenties. Whilst the other bands have folded due to lack of success/fall outs/drug habits/laziness/you name it The Coral for the most part have kept it together, managed to be prolific whilst still maintaining a high level of quality in their releases. In the 8 years since their debut they have managed a body of work that most bands that have been together for over twenty years would be proud of including some amazing B-sides which are available to download from this very blog. A truly great band that hopefully decades down the line people will still be talking about.

If you are a fan of any of these bands or you know of some other bands that were failed to be mentioned here join us over at the Soapbox Forum to talk about it.