Mother and the Addicts

Comparable to fellow Glaswegian dance-rocker Franz Ferdinand, stylish art-poppers Mother & the Addicts carved themselves a nice little niche in the new wave revival scene by combining their eclectic tastes (Half Man Half Biscuit, Orange Juice, the Fall) with the sounds of mainstream '80s radio staples (Duran Duran, Frankie Goes to Hollywood) along with a wonky dose of indie irony for good measure. Sam Smith, aka Mother, moved to Glasgow from Brighton in 2003. Upon arrival, he began shopping a handful of demos that he recorded in different styles under various aliases, including an electro-heavy tape where he called himself Duane Ready & the Robots, and was quickly offered a deal from Chemikal Underground (home of Arab Strap and Mogwai). Soon after, he faced the task of forming a backing band, and fortunately met drummer Ian Cronan and his friend Peter Vallely, who played bass. They palled up with Douglas Morland and a non-musician by the name of Kendall Koppe, who took the role of running the sampler. With a band locked in place, the group entered the Chem 19 studio and set out to record an album that matched the raw urgency of the three-song demo that originally caught the label's attention. In 2005, the band emerged with Take the Lovers Home Tonight. That year, Koppe left the band to pursue a career as a photographer and the band continued on as a four-piece touring the Indian Summer festival and the Glasgow School of Art Degree Show. In 2007, after returning to the studio, they released the similarly retro and more polished Science Fiction Illustrated and added an additional keyboardist/sampler, Timothy Dyer, for their future live shows.