The Unisex

Staffordshire, England's Unisex formed from the ashes of the Telescopes, one of the sadly forgotten bands who recorded a handful of fine early-'90s EPs for Creation Records. The U.K. label's now decimated ranks at one time featured Oasis, Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub, Ride, and the Jesus & Mary Chain, just to name a few; one can see how easy it would be to get overlooked in such heady company. Original Telescopers and now co-leaders of Unisex, Stephen Lawrie and Jo Doran originally came together in 1996 after Lawrie, Doran, and film music composer Nick Hemming recorded soundtrack music for a low-budget U.K. movie, A Room for Romeo Brass, directed by Shane Meadows. The trio enjoyed making music together and continued to record, adding Andrew Foster and Dan Thompson along the way. The group's first single, "They Do Feel Strange," appeared in 1996 on Heaven Records U.K.; it was named "Single of the Year" by Pop (France). Subsequent vinyl singles followed on a variety of labels, including Heaven, Kooky, Short Fuse, Mind Expansion, and the small U.S. independent Double Agent. Another single, "Critical Condition," was named "Single of the Week" by the U.K.'s New Musical Express. An EP, Deadlock, was issued in 2000. The group's first full-length album, Stratosphere, was released by Double Agent in 2001. The group's next album (due in 2002) will reportedly feature all five members of Unisex along with Randall Nieman (Füxa, Unexplained Transmissions). ~ Bryan Thomas