At the age of 11 identical twins Hugo (guitar) and Jebb (bass) Boothby met Sam Marsh (vocals, drums) at a swimming competition, when all three boys were wearing heavy metal band T-shirts. The band was formed and they soon graduated from Status Quo cover versions to writing their own material, drawing their primary influence from the noisier acts appearing on UK disc jockey John Peel’s radio show (Peel later sponsored the band’s career, and became a close neighbour of theirs in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England). Their name, hardly descriptive of their ferocious sound, was inspired by their cousin’s pet, and was first used on a 7-inch EP, The Dot, released on the Liverish label in January 1991. It was Single Of The Week in the soon-to-be-defunct Sounds magazine, and heralded support slots with Nirvana, Carter USM, Senseless Things and others. Still without a recording contract, they released No Fish Shop Parking (a name taken from a road sign in Bury St Edmunds) on their own Blithering Idiot label, which was run by the father of their manager, Sam Marsh. This brought them acclaim from UK disc jockeys John Peel and Mark Goodier, and the band subsequently signed with Wiija Records, whose Gary Walker had at first turned them down. After touring with Babes In Toyland they released the Ton Up EP in September 1992, and they also signed a US contract with Frontier Records to give them wider distribution. I’m Scared deserved the healthy amount of press it received, with its lo-fi hardcore sound draped in feedback and metal riffs. The band was also highly playful, pushing their sound in varied and quite unexpected directions in a manner reminiscent of Captain Beefheart. Live, they were equally distinctive, with Marsh’s guttural, non-linear vocals used primarily as an instrument (the band humbly stated that, as they were so young, they would feel daft trying to impart wisdom to others), and the identical twins standing either side of the drum kit, flailing in unison. In the autumn of 1993 they released two further EPs, Good and Group Of Seven, after which the band took a break before releasing a third album, Rubber Room.