The Raincoats

The Raincoats are a British post-punk band. Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art, London, England.

Career

1977-1993

The line-up included Ross Crighton on guitar and Nick Turner on drums for the band's first gig on 9 November 1977. Kate Korus, from The Slits and later The Mo-dettes, joined briefly but was replaced by Jeremie Frank. Nick Turner left to form The Barracudas and Richard Dudanski (ex The 101ers and later Public Image Ltd.) sat in on drums and film maker Patrick Keiller replaced Jeremie Frank on guitar.

Late in 1978, The Raincoats became an all female band as they were joined by The Slits' ex-drummer Palmolive and the classically trained violinist Vicky Aspinall, making their live debut at Acklam Hall in London on 4 January 1979. Managed by Shirley O'Loughlin, the band went on their first UK tour with Swiss female band Kleenex, in May 1979 after Rough Trade Records released their first single, "Fairytale in the Supermarket"/ "In Love"/ "Adventures Close to Home". Johnny Rotten was an early admirer of the band, and later stated that: "The Raincoats offered a completely different way of doing things, as did X-Ray Spex and all the books about punk have failed to realise that these women were involved for no other reason than that they were good and original." The Raincoats' distinctly non-commercial sound did not appeal to everyone; after witnessing an early performance by the band, Danny Baker remarked that: "They are so bad that every time a waiter drops a tray we'd all get up and dance."

The Raincoats (album)

The Raincoats is the debut studio album by English rock band The Raincoats. It was released in 1979 on Rough Trade Records. The album is perhaps best known for its off-kilter cover of "Lola" by The Kinks. The album's seventh track, "The Void", was notably covered by Hole in 1994.

In May 2010 the band performed the album in its entirety in London.

Background

The cover painting is by Pang Hsiao-Li.

Release

The Raincoats was re-released by Rough Trade in 1994, with liner notes by Kurt Cobain. The album was again re-released on 9 November 2009 on vinyl with a free mp3 download and an extra track, "Fairytale in the Supermarket", as well as a special edition bonus CD, including live footage from 1977 and 1979 and a video of "Fairytale in the Supermarket" on We ThRee, the band's own label in the UK and on the Kill Rock Stars label in the USA.

Critical reception

AllMusic praised the album, writing, "this music, even at its most dissonant, is stunning and captivating."Kurt Cobain listed it in his top fifty albums of all time.

The Raincoats (disambiguation)

The Raincoats are a British band.

The Raincoats may also refer to:

See also