Music Style retro British-rock

Artist History After half a decade playing the London toilet circuit and constantly sending out demos, My Drug Hell finally found a record deal with the US based independent Shimmydisc, on the condition they paid for recordings. By a twist of fate singer Tim Briffa's grandmother had died the week before, leaving him £2500; and so the band promptly booked a week in a vintage eight track studio in the East End of London. The album was around half complete when Shimmydisc went bust. Tim started shopping around the half-finished album to scant response, when he happened to strike up a conversation with a fellow customer in the Music and Video Exchange in Notting Hill who mentioned he was setting up a record label. Tim went back to his studio, played him the tape and was offered a deal on the spot. Diversity Recordings released two 7" only singles from the material so far recorded. "You Were Right, I Was Wrong" went into the Indie charts at No 5, while "Girl At The Bus Stop" was awarded Single Of The Week on Radio One's Evening Session and spent twelve weeks in and out of the Independent Top 30. It may well have done better had a flood at the pressing plant ensured that the record wouldn't be available until two months after the Evening Session had stopped playing it. The "Curse of My Drug Hell" seemed to gather momentum around this time. On the day of the video shoot for Bus Stop, drummer Joe Bultitude announced he was leaving the band. In order to complete the video, Tim had to slick his hair back and mime the drum part himself. (Despite this and the fact that it had been shot on Super 8 for £350, it went on to be voted best video on MTV's Alternative Nation.) Joe eventually rejoined, but problems continued to surround the band and the album they were (still) trying to finish. Half the completed master mixes had already been ruined by a faulty tape machine, the front cover artwork had been lost by a magazine doing a feature on the group and Joe quit the band and returned twice more. Finally though, he left again, but this time there was no turning back, and he was replaced by Brighton sticksman Raife Burchell. The live shows and demeanour of the band improved dramatically. Eventually, the album just needed one more track for completion. Owing to various technical hitches, "Jinx's Hole" had been re-recorded three times in three different studios. Just as a finished version was at last recorded and ready to be mixed, a sound engineer pressed the wrong button and erased the vocal track. The studio was booked solid for the next three months and by the time it became free and the track could be completed, problems were beginning to emerge at the record label. Two weeks before the scheduled release date, Diversity Recordings ceased trading. Mercifully, Diversity had struck two foreign licensing deals before going bust and 'This Is My Drug Hell' at last came out in Australia and the US to unanimously good reviews, one going so far as to call it "the best album ever" (!!??). In the US, the album spent twelve weeks in the CMJ College Charts, while Bus Stop was the No 1 Most Requested Track on every commercial radio station it was played on, (For 8 weeks running in Connecticut and 12 weeks running in New Jersey!). In Australia Bus Stop made No 57 in the year's Hot 100 on Triple J (the countrys biggest station). Despite the growing reaction abroad the band were still unable to find a deal in their own country and so borrowed money to put the album out themselves in the UK on their own Voltone label, and re-released "Girl At The Bus Stop" (on cd as well as 7" this time.) Although originally recorded on a four track on a second hand roll of tape the song was voted Single Of The Week on several stations around the UK including Steve Taylor's show on XFM and Mark Goodier's weekend show on Radio One. It was also adopted as part of a six month TV ad campaign for Miller Genuine Draft beer in the US and UK, and has been used in two US feature films. As My Drug Hell released their final single 'Maybe We Could Fly' off the first album another band change occurred. Paul Donnelly left to become a full time carpenter, and after several false starts which included ex-Kula Shaker Alonsa, Parisian bassist Sebastien Hoog and Raife Burchell, the new line up of Tim, Dave Preston and Sebastian (Little Seb) Kellig are hard at it recording the next album and are back playing live.

Group Members Tim Briffa, Dave Preston, Sebastian Kellig

Albums This Is My Drug Hell

Press Reviews Ptolemaic Terrascope (UK) Once in a while something comes along which you just know is really special. Whether it is a book that has you mesmerised from cover to cover, someone you meet, or even a rather exceptional portion of fish and chips, when the chips are cooked just right and the batter is crispy and golden-you just know that whatever form it has chosen to take, it has quality and greatness stamped all over it. This album is one of those things. My Drug Hell are a London based trio utilising the much loved guitar, bass and drums line-up who have released an absolute classic album, each song has been lovingly crafted and marvellously executed in gloriously rich analogue tones. Recorded at the completely digital free, valve heaven of Toe Rag studios in London, the songs have completely lost that 'crisp round the edges' overcooked sonique that typifies modern digital recording techniques and as a result, have been lifted into another dimension. Warm, rounded bass lines, beautifully toasted drums and a great oven baked guitar and vocal sound all add to the album's 'timeless' atmosphere that is usually reserved for precious artefacts like old Blue Note records, early Bert Jansch recordings and 60's Kinks albums. This is actually a good reference point in which to start, for these guys have distilled that 60's UK beat/pop essence which firmly embraces the Beatles, The Kinks and The Pretty Things as well as possessing the spirit and spark of lesser known acts like The Smoke, The Poets and in places, even elements of legendary freakbeat hooligans Wimple Winch. Don't get me wrong-these guys aren't just pulling off a straight retro snapshot of that era-they have injected a certain something which brings their sparse, simplified beauty bang up to date with the times. Green Pajamas fans will love this to death. The album kicks straight in with the frantic rocker 'Don't Say Goodbye' and follows on with '2am', a hook laden power pop track which grooves the verses along with a stoned staccato guitar line. 'You Were Right, I Was Wrong' gallops along nicely, having one of those pleasantly annoying song structures that reminded me of a clutch of other songs from my distant memory, but strangely enough, I was unable to lay a recognisable finger on any one of them-a good sign if I may say so. Spooky. There's really not one bad track on this record; the songs are all great. Each one is a stripped down pop nugget that sticks straight to your brain. Simple and effective. 'Maybe We Could Fly' is another absolute diamond of a track. A mellow shuffling bossa nova flavoured guitar strum through a lonesome valley, strewn with the lyrics of a doomed love; the flavour of the tune nicely complemented with some foot tapping drum rhythms and some exquisitely well crafted guitar hooks. Flip over the vinyl and the kicking drive of 'Jinx's Hole' comes at you all bitter and twisted, with more great hooks to keep everyone on the boil. 'For Your Eyes' is a sizzzling slab of funky wah wah and the rockin' tongue in cheek rant of 'Teen Psycho Nightmare No. 99' could be about-brace yourself kids-drugs. Fabulous. The album closes with the absolutely god-like 'She Flies So High', a sublime, pastoral stroll through green fields on long forgotten stoned summer afternoons. Languid strokes of slide guitar adding lazy atmospherics to the overall sound. Simplicity is the key here. Less is definitely more. The fourth track on the album, the sumptuously whimsical, 'Girl At The Bus Stop' should have you staring nostalgically into space with a dreamy smile-it has a certrain naivety and charm which is instantly appealing. Oh, yeah, if it sounds familiar, it's the same track used on the Miller beer advert, but don't take any notice of that. If the song excerpt from the ad helps them amass the money to create more marvellous albums like this, then surely nobody's going to be as shallow and ignorant as to dismiss them as "cashing in" or whatever, (insert derogatory phrase like "sell out" or something similar here.....). You usually find that these phrases are only used by music snobs who become miffed when some of the nice obscure music that they like (and maybe nobody else has heard) suddenly becomes available for mass enjoyment. Thus rendering them unable to quote the band's name or song ever again while engaged in "muso" conversation, for fear of being labelled as liking something "mainstream" or "popular" to which, horror of horrors, the rest of the population also have access. It's a funny old world. Don't worry about it though, just go out and buy this album and give yourself a break. (Paul Simmons) Check out:www.terrascope.org The Rocket (USA) My Drug Hell are a Brit-trio with the stripped down, skeletal punch of The Velvets, and the fervent clang and melodic strum of the Go-Betweens. In other words, this is good stuff. More than '60s smiley pop revivalists like Oasis or Kula Shaker, My Drug Hell can mix that happy-go-lucky jangle with contempo "love has burned me again" lyrics as on the Doors-like swing of 'You Were Right, I Was Wrong'. It's not all glower and gloom, as the lads bust out the tambourines on the catchy 'Girl at the Bus Stop' which builds like The McCoys' "Hang on Sloopy" without falling into a charging chorus. Here, the girl stays at at the bus stop, and vocalist Tim Briffa just keeps on walking. Briffa keeps himself at a distance, mostly moping, yet the songs bristle with edge and urgency, sometimes even breaking into a dancey, latter-day Jam/Paul Weller groove as in 'For Your Eyes'. While it may sound like My Drug Hell are all over the map, their sound is consistent and infectiously their own. (John Chandler) Check out: www.musicuniverse.com The Mag (Australia) Surprise, surprise; crap name, great band. I dug this CD from track one-it's so retro, it's new. Ok, so most bands hailing from the UK have some pretty obvious influences; ie, Oasis and a load of other crap. And while this bands no exception, their delicate touch has produced a rare gem. Being recorded on both four and eight track really adds to the charm, I couldn't help but be reminded or early Kinks or Love. Tim Briffa's great voice haunts their sparce arrangements. Here's a group who knows when enough's just right. It's pop but it's still got a bit of tragedy. Sounds like they gave up all hope of ever getting a record out but I'm glad they finally did and thanks to TWA Records for liking it enough to release it down here. The best surprise I've had in ages. (PM) Bucketful of Brains (UK) It's often the case that a "sixties influence" implies a bunch of indie clothes horses knocking out some horrid Bootleg Beatles routine in the hope of catching a ride in the slipstream. All the more pleasant then to be surprised by My Drug Hell; their reference points might date back thirty years, but they at least have the decency to go somewhere with them. Dragging the analogue desk (along with the super 8 camera in the promo vids) into the 21st Century, it's a wonder this album has been released on CD at all (rest assured that a vinyl version is also available). In spite of the band's name, we can dispense with the preconception that they're some sub-goth doomfest. Ok, they're a bedraggled, pointy-booted trio and are certainly penumbral in nature, but there's a stripped-down pop sensibility to their act that could well take them a lot further into the public eye. It's apparent from 'Don't Say Goodbye' that this three piece boast a certain agility; a nimble rickenbacker-fuelled rhythm section carries the material with jazzy dexterity, grooving in the way those cool 60s soundtracks used to. The bare-bones production affords us an unobstructed view as Tim Briffa sketches his dioramas of life's highs and lows amid the bedsits and tower blocks of the capital. 'You Were Right, I Was Wrong' is love on the skids, a venomous bust-up to a sardonically swinging beat while 'Girl at the Bus Stop', conversely, is a far more tender affair, a tale of love at first sight that's never fulfilled-"she smiled sweetly, but she said no", on the route of the number 31. An infectious rhythmic pulse is employed on the last single 'Maybe We Could Fly', which patters along gently but insisently. There's even a taste of blaxploitation further on with 'For Your Eyes', where Briffa's wah-wah guitar locks into the groove and gets as funky as these three spindly white boys are likely to, as grimy urban reality gets a lyrical dissection, with pleading shades of vintage Curtis Mayfield. The pace drops however, to the closing-time stagger of 'She Locked My Heart Up', a brittle paen to loserdom that allows hope no space to glimmer. Mercifully the album wraps up on a prettier note with a pleasing , eastern melody of 'She Flies So High' which , at least on the CD, fades into the repeat clicks of a stylus caught in a run-out groove! But wait! A comedy secret track appears, a sharp pisstake of big label A&R men which is entertaining but a bit unneccessary at the end of such a strong album. Minor gripes aside, it's plain that My Drug Hell have come up with a contender here, directing their obvious influences into some snappy takes on the travails of love and life in the modern urban environment, and while the sixties may be their sound's bedrock, this record is refreshingly free from woolly headed nostalgic escapism which lesser bands would inflict upon us. (Hugh Gulland) Amazon.com (USA) The full sound that comes from this trio is remarkable! Tim Briffa's guitar is superb throughout the entire album. My favourite is th wa-wa and funkiness on 'For Your Eyes'. While most people love 'Girl at the Bus Stop', the band's tale of finding love via public transportation, it by no means exemplifies the versatility of this group. 'She Flies So High' is the perfect album closer, almost easing one back into the real world after giving oneself over to the band. The band also pays homage to vinyl on the CD version with the sound of a runout groove with the crackle of vinyl before the bonus track....and a very good hidden bonus track at that!. My Drug Hell also promises an added treat for the people who purchase the vinyl version. The only thing better than listening to My Drug Hell play on this CD is seeing them live! (Which I've done!) But if they can't be in your favourite hometown venue, they should at least be in your living room. 'This is My Drug Hell' is a MUST-HAVE for anyone who appreciates great music. (Kristen Leep/kristen@kristenleep.com) Check out: www.amazon.com W Magazine (Australia) This is the first time I've heard of My Drug Hell, a three piece band out of the UK. The whole album was recorded on a 4 track and 8 track without, as the band quotes "no digital shite". They also thank UK record labels for nothing (ra ra) and take the piss out of record companies and A&R people on the last song 'It's Good But....'. The band definitely keeps the mid 60's alive using authentic sounds and equipment but some may ask do we need to step back in time once again? Just remember the circle of music trends is always turning and if you like what your hearing why judge it? I've listened to this album 10 times and I love it. (Gene) Select (UK) A foray into the indie charts with 'Girl at the Bus Stop' and some plays on Radio One's Evening Session hinted that something was just round the corner for London three-piece My Drug Hell-especially with a name half-inched from one of the nineties coolest t-shirts. This steaming debut shows they're spoiled for choice on the follow-up front. They barge into the Britpop picture somewhere between Supergrass and Gene, but singer/guitarist Tim Briffa's crew are neither as foppish nor laddish. They don't sound like The Smiths, either. Sixties-style tunes, with hints of McCartney and Arthur Lee, rub up next to some rickety, funky rock. And Briffa knows that at times it's cool to be gauche. Offhand lyrics and lean, pristine pop constructions weave suddenly with incongruous wah-wah guitar-with eyebrow-raising lines like: "Kept thinking of the time our lips first met/Now there's a hole in my television set/Well I guess/Well, I was upset", and a real howler: "It's not hard to foretell/They'll have your name in lights/And my name mis-spelled". All human life is here, from the bus stop to the drug hell that is 'Teen Psycho Nightmare'. This could be recommended as one to look out for, but trying to resist it might be the issue. (Mike Barnes) Check out:www.selectbestoftheweb.co.uk

Location London, London - United Kingdom

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