Minuteman

London, England-based band formed in early 2000 by Matt Jones (guitar/vocals) following the fractious implosion of his former band, the over-hyped Ultrasound. Switching from keyboards to guitar, Jones was joined in Minuteman by Jim Dare (guitar), Paul Thomson (bass), and Tim Weller (drums), fashioning a sound which eschewed the bloated excesses of his former band in favour of melodic space rock reminiscent of early 70s David Bowie and contemporary US band Mercury Rev. The quartet signed a recording contract with Ignition Records, and released their excellent debut single ‘Words Fail Me Now’ in November 2001. Subsequent releases ‘Big Boy’, ‘Gave You All The Blame’ and ‘5000 Minutes Of Pain’ built up the buzz surrounding Minuteman, prior to the release of their first album, Resigned To Life, in September 2002.