Artist description electronic noise

Music Style dated

Musical Influences chameleons, elvis, sinatra, duran duran, dana

Similar Artists we only sound like unpopular artists

Artist History Shay McArsney was born in Old Marston with one eye extremely wide open; from an early age he underwent various operations to try to close it slightly but with little success. The Redwoods, Crozer and East were all born on the same ward as McArsney, all within 400 yards of the beginning of the seventies. Although the members of the band spent their childhoods in the same street of the same tiny village, they never actually spoke to each other until they were doing their O Level resits at the age of 19 in the local school. Unfortunately this marked the end of their education because they were all thrown out the exams for talking; but it was this event that formed an unholy bond between them: they vowed to get their revenge on the headmaster by forming a band and writing miserable songs about him. The rest, they say, is history... Locals were amazed from the very beginning by the band's raw talent, word spread quickly and pretty soon they were getting too big for even Old Marston's largest of venues. The attention the band was receiving, along with the offer of a free meal from Shay's mum, attracted A&R men from all over the county. The band were signed to the PIG label in 1990 and had their name changed to The Rels (previously they were called "Of An Evening", but this really was a shoddy title.) Their first album "Diablo Bunny" was released soon after they were signed, and a few people even noticed that it was actually quite good, with one outstanding song - "Carp", inspired by Shay's experiences whilst working at a fishmongers. It would take them years to get beyond the initial success of what they would later describe the "Our f*cking albatross", it became an anthem for fishmongers and shopkeepers everywhere (in Oxfordshire.) Wherever the band played people would always be calling out for the song, and occasionally offering them special deals on breaded haddock. "Benzedrine" was released mid 1994 receiving much critical acclaim (from Shay's mum), and saw The Rels jump to superstar status within the Witney region. Highlights included the songs "My Iron Tablets" (a stormer of a track about Shay's disgust with the waste of natural resources due to the amount of packaging used on health products), and "Neat Spirits (Black Out)" a whirlwind of a tune that wraps you up in cling film and then dumps you hard in the middle of the road without any trousers. 1997 saw a change of direction for The Rels as they started upon their voyage into redefining modern music from the bottom up, with the release of their third album "Alright Compressor". After being teased by the meandering opener "Sickbag" you wonder where you'll be taken to next. The answer is: to the most wonderful heights of prog-funk-bangra-country and the albums defining peak "Paralysed Adenoid" during which Shay sings in the style of a man with accute nasal trauma whilst carrying undercurrents of feelings rooted deeply in the painful memories of the eye operations he was forced to endure as a child. This song straps you into a chair and drags you kicking and screaming backwards on a journey though depression into ecstasy and beyond and then back again at twice the speed. The album also includes some of Shay's experimental poetry read by an original speak-and-spell toy and set to the sounds of a cow giving birth. People wondered what could come next, how could The Rels possibly surpass what had become the defining sound of Oxfordshire? Well, with the release of "Lamb B" in late 2000 half the county was shocked into admitting they had done just that. The other half were asking "What on Earth is that all about then, eh?". The local press initially sided with the confused heralding the album as "The Emporer's New Clothes Part II". But it was a grower; more and more people realised the true nature of the Emporer's clothes, and the band's status skyrocketed to newer and crazier heights. The Rels really had outdone themselves and the rest of their musical peers by created something totally new and astonishing. Shay was rumoured to have privately told one journalist that they had just being trying to get rid of a load of their lunatic fans, but it had horrendously backfired. Leading with the track "Everything's In The Wrong Drawers" you know this record is going to take you on an unusual journey; once again including Shay's growing obsession with farmyard animal samples on the title track "Lamb B". Also included on the album was the track "Lumpy" that had been released the previous year for the "Wart Child" charity album. Well, it's 2002 and whilst we're waiting to see if The Rels can once more redefine the Marston sound, these previously (and it would seem wisely) unreleased out-takes have been released exclusively on this website. The Rels kindly ask you not to enjoy them and not to bother them so much in future.

Group Members Shay McArsney - Vocals and Misery, Tommy Redwood - Strange Guitar, Pipes, Theramin, Garry Redwood - Bass, Bernie East - Drums and Other Noises, Paul Crozer - Chiming Guitars, Errol Pucaz - Drinking Coach

Instruments Vocal chords, Guitars, Bass, Drums, Keyboards, Noise, Animals

Albums Diablo Bunny 1991, Benzedrine 1994, Alright McArsney 1997, Lamb B 2000

Press Reviews "This band absolutely rocks beyond belief!!" - MNE, "Possibly the best band ever to have come from Old Marston", - DQ Magazine "Ils sont pas mal horrible" - Jacques Brel III, "I never heard such goings off" - Stan Laurel

Additional Info Pipes

Location Oxford, Oxfordshire - United Kingdom

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