Mumm-Ra

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About Mumm-Ra

Formed in 2000 in their home-town of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, as a group of friends in their mid-teens simply playing music together, rather than consciously setting out in search of a musical career, James New (vocals), Oliver Frost (guitar/vocals), James Arguile (guitar), Niall Buckler (bass/vocals) and Gareth Jennings (drums) comprise this youthful indie rock quintet. Their name is derived from the lead villain in the 80s children’s television cartoon Thundercats. After leaving school and deciding to treat their music as a potential occupation, attention from a number of record labels followed almost immediately. The band eventually signed to major label Columbia Records. They recorded their debut album in Grenada, Spain, together with notorious producer, and founding member of rock band Killing Joke, Martin Glover aka Youth. The album materialised in May 2007, in the wake of a handful of EPs and singles. Interest in the band was building steadily thanks to encouraging radio airplay and their name being added to the NME Awards Tour. Most of the tracks on their debut, These Things Move In Threes, were written and played together while they were teenagers, adding to their undoubted naïve charm. Full of infectious catchy hooks and strong melodies, the quintet achieved something close to power pop perfection on tracks such as ‘Starlight’ and ‘What Would Steve Do?’. New’s un-Americanized vocals, reminiscent of a young Damon Albarn or Athlete’s Joel Pott, combined with a variety of jangly guitars, rocked-up power chords and charmingly innocent harmonies created a likeable and endearing debut. The album deservedly received excellent reviews but sold moderately, narrowly missing out on the UK Top 40.

ORIGIN
Bexhill-On-Sea, England
FORMED
25 January 2001
GENRE
Pop

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