Matinee Club

Heavily inspired by the '80s electro-pop/New Romantic scene, three-piece Matinee Club have survived several lineup changes, name changes, and a chart-rigging scandal since forming in 2001. Originally consisting of synth players Nathan Cooper and Chi Tudor-Hart, duo Dirty Blonde became the Modern in 2003 after recruiting vocalist Emma Cooke, guitarist Telee, and drummer Rees Bridges. Both Telee and Bridges soon left to start their own band and join Dirty Vegas, respectively, and were replaced by Robert Johns and Bob Malkowski. After signing to Mercury Records in 2005, the band worked with producer Stephen Hague on their debut album and appeared at several festivals including Reading/ Leeds and Whitby Gothic. Their first single, "Jane Falls Down," reached number 35 in the U.K., with little radio/TV play but second single, "Industry," became a staple of music channel play lists and was expected to be the band's first big hit. However, the track was disqualified from the charts for sales irregularities when it was discovered that thousands of copies had been bought on the same credit card. Following the controversy, the band parted with their label and after both Johns and Lakowski left, changed their name for a third time to Matinee Club. In 2007, they signed to Planet Clique Records and released a new single, "Discotheque Francais," through their website, but months later moved to Universal Music through Europa Recordings. The constant merry go round continued when the Europa label closed down due to record company cutbacks and the band transferred back to Planet Clique. Their debut album, Modern Industry, was eventually released via download and in 2008, they released a CD called The Modern LP through Ninth Wave Records in the U.S. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi