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At the tender age of 11 no one
expected the Boothby twins and their mate Sam to make anything other
than a big noise at home. Theyd met Sam at a swimming competition,
and made friends because they all were wearing heavy metal t-shirts.
Over the years, they stopped playing Status Quo covers and started
writing their own songs, with the aim of making no two alike. Their
influences were everything on Peel and what they scavenged from parents
record collections.
Naming themselves after their cousins pet (yep, really!), they
put out a single with a friend, and it promptly got Sounds Single
of the Week. This opened the doors to tons of gigs as first on to
people like Nirvana, Carter, Senseless Things et al. They shopped
their new demos to the labels they liked, but to no avail. So, they
put it out on their own Blithering Idiot label, run by Sams
dad, who also managed the band. The press totally loved it, and Peel
gave them a session literally hours after hearing it. They played
live from Norwich on the Mark Goodier show, and toured with Captain
America and Midway Still.
In the meantime Gary Wiiija was kicking himself for turning down No
Fish Shop, and they turned down lots of labels to go with Wiiija.
The Mice had found their hole, where they could do what they liked,
and in their own time. The Ton Up e.p. came out and they toured with
Babes in Toyland, and then Moonshake, building up a strong, loyal
and young following. Frontier put the album out in the States and
they wrote and recorded a new album, Im Scared, which didnt
get a bad review any where that weve found! It was one of the
finest low fi youthcore albums released, combining Beefheart, dub,
feedback and riffs that stay in the brain.
In Autumn 93, the band went to America, playing with the likes of
Poster Children and Alice Donut, and the band recorded three new singles,
experimenting with their sound and songwriting. Group of Seven
was Single of the Week on the Evening Session and in Melody Maker.
When Fandango Widewheels E.P. was released in early 94,
Peel played all the tracks he loved it so much, and MTV play listed
the video on 120 Minutes. Fanzines rave about the band, and despite
the lack of mainstream press, the band proved a big draw on the Wiiija
/ Too Pure / Clawfist tours, and on tours with Understand and Bivouac.
The band also supported noisy kindred spirits such as Gallon Drunk,
The Boredoms and Th Faith Healers.
Jacobs Mouse released their last albumRubber Room
in 1995. Although the band split later that year when the twins went
to college in London, Sam carried on with his own project, Machismos
and Wiiija put out two seven inch singles in 1996.
Jacobs Mouse were:
SAM MARSH DRUMS & VOCALS
HUGO BOOTHBY GUITAR
JEBB BOOTHBY BASS |
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