The Flaming Stars

The garage band the Flaming Stars spark a haunting swagger similar to Nick Cave and the Tindersticks. They formed in 1994, then spent the next year wowing European audiences while honing a dark, guitar-driven sound and preparing their 1995 debut EP, Hospital, Heaven or Hell. Several John Peel sessions followed throughout the remainder of the '90s, and in 1996, the band released Songs from the Bar Room Floor. Taken from their fourth LP, the dramatic 2001 epic A Walk on the Wired Side, "Some Things You Don't Forget" was a moderate hit in Europe the same year they issued the theatrical Ginmill Perfume for North American audiences. Tantalizing tales of exotic travels were found on 2002's Sunset & Void. The career retrospective London After Midnight: Singles, Rarities and Bar Room Floor-Fillers 1995-2005 appeared shortly before the band's eighth studio album, 2006's Born Under a Bad Neon Sign.