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Bearsuit are an art-rock/dance/punk band from Norwich, UK.

[edit] Biography

Bearsuit first came to public attention following their championing by Radio 1 DJ John Peel, and their debut single "Hey Charlie, Hey Chuck" was voted number four in the Peel programme's Festive Fifty of 2001.^[1] They recorded four Peel Sessions in 2001 and 2002 and their single "Chargr" was number two in the first Festive Fifty after Peel's death.^[1]

Since their full-length album ‘oh:io’ in 2007, the band have undergone a dramatic line-up change, swapped violins, flutes and horns for dirty synths and fierce guitars, notched-up their sound, brought in big time producer Gareth Parton (The Go! Team, Pete and the Pirates, Foals, The Breeders) and recorded a perfectly off-the-wall pop masterpiece – ‘The Phantom Forest’ (due for release in March 2011).

'Please Don’t Take Him Back' was the debut single from the album (released in October 2010) on the UK label Fortuna Pop!, home to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and the Pipettes. As well as being playlisted on BBC 6 Music, the track received airplay on Radio 1 and XFM, and was reviewed in NME, Vice, Artrocker, Clash Magazine, and many more online.

A free download single 'A Train Wreck' was released in December and 'When Will I Be Queen' is scheduled for March, as well as more tour dates, including a European tour in April/May.

As well as touring extensively in the UK, the band completed a 16-date tour of the US in 2008, taking in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, Grand Rapids, St Louis and Pittsburgh. They have previously played at Sweden's art-rock noise-pop festival Emmaboda; where they played alongside Kaito and Deerhoof.

Charlene and Joe of Bearsuit also play in Tell Me How. Members have previously played in the Polyphonic Spree, Cruiser Chimps, Evader, Keytarded, Hyper Kinako, The Bavarian Rocket Group, Velvia and The Aprons.

Bearsuit have previously played various festivals including Latitude, Bestival, The Great Escape and Offset, as well as several abroad including SXSW, Emmaboda (Sweden) and CMJ in New York, where they were voted ‘Best Breakthrough Act’ in a New York Times poll of badge-holders and received shining reviews, including Pitchfork.

The band have also supported the likes of Crystal Castles, Melt Banana, Future of the Left, Lightspeed Champion and Hot Chip.

They have previously released records on Fantastic Plastic Records (Ash, Ikara Colt, Futureheads, The Guillemots), Happy Happy Birthday To Me (US) (Bunnygrunt, Lovely Eggs, Hotpants Romance) and Micro Indie (US) (Sodastream, The Universe, The Icicles).

The band have been championed by BBC radio DJs including John Peel, Steve Lamacq, Huw Stephens, Zane Lowe, Rob Da Bank, Phill Jupitus, Marc Riley, Tom Ravenscroft, Tom Robinson, Colin Murray, Gideon Coe and John Kennedy on XFM.

Accolades include scooping 'Vinyl of the Week' in the NME, 'Pick of the Week' in The Guardian, and 'Album of the Fortnight' in Artrocker.

[edit] Band members

[edit] Current members

• Lisa Horton — keyboards, vocals,
• Charlene Katuwawala — bass, vocals, keyboards
• Joe Naylor — drums, vocals
• Jan Robertson — guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Iain Ross — guitar, keys, vocals

[edit] Past members

• Emma Belka - drums (until 2001)
• Cerian Hutchings (née Hamer) — cornet, violin, keyboards, vocals, piano, percussion
• Matt Hutchings — drums (until 2008)
• Matt Moss — bass (until 2004) (also a member of Lethargic Pigeon and The Rebeccas)
• Richard Squires — bass, guitar, vocals (until 2008)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• Cat Spectacular! (Fortuna Pop!, Microindie 2004)
• Team Ping Pong (Fantastic Plastic, 2005)
• oh:io (Fantastic Plastic, Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records 2007)
• The Phantom Forest (Fortuna Pop!, 2011)

[edit] Singles

• "Hey Charlie Hey Chuck" (Sickroom GC, 2001)
• "Drinkink" (Sickroom GC, 2002)
• "Stop What You're Doing What You're Doing Is Wrong" (Sickroom GC, 2002)
• "Itsuko Got Married" (Bearslut recordings, 2003)
• "The Bearsuit Jesus Will Spear You Through The Heart" EP (Fortuna Pop!, 2003)
• "Chargr!" (Fortuna POP!, 2004)
• "Steven Fucking Spielberg" (Fantastic Plastic, 2006)
• "More Soul Than Wigan Casino" (Fantastic Plastic, 2007) #24 UK Indie
• "Foxy Boxer" (Fantastic Plastic, 2007) #13 UK Indie
• "Pushover" (Fantastic Plastic, 2008)
• "Musclebelt" (Fantastic Plastic, 2009)
• "Please Don't Take Him Back" (Fortuna POP!, 2010)
• "A Train Wreck" (free digital download to mailing list, Fortuna Pop!, 2010)
• "When Will I Be Queen" (Fortuna Pop!, 2011)

[edit] Compilations

• The Gazumper (Sickroom GC, 2001)
• "Snowshoe" on Should you be singing Christmas songs? (Happy Capitalist, 2001)
• "Come Around" on GoJonnyGoGoGoGo (2001)
• "Drinkink" on Blip Anomaly (Sickroom GC, 2001)
• "Poor Prince Neal" on GoJonnyGoGoGoGo2 (2002)
• "Little Donkey" on A Christmas Gift from Fortuna Pop! (Fortuna POP!, 2002)
• "On Your Special Day" on I'm With Cupid (WIAIWYA records, 2004)
• "Rodent Disco" on GoJonnyGoGoGoGo Favourites #1 (2005)
• edited version of "Rodent Disco" on Que Viva le Pop! (Elefant Records/Fortuna POP!, 2006)
• "Itsuko Got Married" on Kat's Karavan: The History of John Peel on the Radio' (Universal Music, 2009)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website