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The Lodger

 
Artist: The Lodger
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The Lodger

Group Members:

Katie James, Ben Siddall, Bruce Renshaw, Joe Margetts, Lisa Harker

Similar Artists:

Tigercity, Freer, Hail Social, Steinbecks, Pants Yell!, Jens Lekman, The Saturday People, Bricolage, The Lucksmiths, The Sunshine Underground, Kings of Convenience

Influenced By:

The Wedding Present, Orange Juice, Talulah Gosh, Television Personalities
  • Formed: 2004, Leeds, England
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "Grown Ups", "Life Is Sweet

Biography

Though the Lodger were formed in 2004, indie pop fans who remember a time before the Strokes will find their chiming, artfully un-artful strummy guitar pop endearingly evocative of the twee pop sound of the 1980s and '90s. Strong echoes of the Wedding Present, the Smiths, Talulah Gosh and their offshoots, and seemingly dozens of others are inescapable in Ben Siddall's urgent up-and-down guitar riffs and his somewhat adenoidal boy-next-door vocals, which themselves sound directly inspired by the Television Personalities' Dan Treacy. The sound is so authentic that the largely moribund Slumberland Records, one of the key players in '90s twee pop, became the British trio's U.S. label. The Lodger were formed in Leeds in 2004 by vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Siddall, with bassist Lisa Harker and drummer Bruce Renshaw. Signing to the hot local indie Dance to the Radio, the Lodger released the singles "Many Thanks for Your Honest Opinion" and "Watching" in 2005, along with tracks on two of the label's compilation albums. Before recording started on the Lodger's first album, Harker and Renshaw left, replaced with bassist Joe Margetts and drummer Katie James. The revised lineup recorded its debut album in Sheffield with Arctic Monkeys producer Alan Smyth, including new versions of the previously released singles. Following the teaser singles "Let Her Go" and "Kicking Sand," Grown-Ups was released in the early summer of 2007. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: The Lodger (band)
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For other groups with similar names, see Lodger.

The Lodger

The Lodger
Background information
Origin Leeds, England
Genre(s) Indie pop
Years active 2004 — present
Label(s) Bad Sneakers Records, Angular Recording Corporation, Slumberland Records, Fabtone Records, Noise Deluxe, Double Dragon, Dance to the Radio, Fabtone, On The Bone, Dogbox, Wrath
Members
Ben Siddall (Vocals/Guitar/keyboards)
Joe Margetts (Bass Guitar)
Bruce Renshaw(drums/percussion)
Former members
Lisa Harker (Bass Guitar)
Katie James (drums)
2007 with Katie James

The Lodger are an indie pop band from Leeds, England, formed in 2004.

Contents

History

The Lodger formed in 2004, after Leeds label Dance to the Radio offered to put out a single on the basis of demos that Ben Siddall recorded in his bedsit, the band name inspired by his accommodation.[1] The initial line-up was Siddall on guitar and vocals with Lisa Harker on bass and Katie James on drums.[2] After 3 sold-out limited 7s ("Many Thanks For Your Honest Opinion" on Dance to the Radio, "Watching" on Double Dragon, and "Let Her Go" on Angular Records) and touring around the UK and Europe with bands such as The Long Blondes and The Research, the group released their debut album Grown-Ups, produced by Alan Smyth and James Ford, in June 2007 on Angular Records in the UK, Slumberland Records in the US, Fabtone in Japan and Speak N Spell in Australia. By this time Harker and James had left the band, to be replaced by Joe Margetts and Bruce Renshaw.[2]

Critical acclaim for the album followed, drawing comparisons with Orange Juice, The Wedding Present, and Heavenly,and it was rated at number 4 in This Is Fake DIY's Albums of 2007.[3][4][5][6][7] The band have featured heavily on the elbo.ws charts since the release along with heavy rotation on US college radio and other stations worldwide. The album was voted as 62nd best of 2007 on www.amazon.com and 95th in Woxy.com's Top 97 of '07. The Lodger recently completed their first tour of the USA in late 2007 and then entered the studio to record their 2nd album in November.[1] The 2nd album is titled Life Is Sweet and was released in May 2008, again to a positive critical reaction.[8][9][10]

The Guardian described the band early on in their career: "Imagine a more bitter and twisted Housemartins, or early James".[11]

Band members

  • Ben Siddall: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards
  • Joe Margetts: bass guitar
  • Bruce Renshaw: the drums, percussion
  • Timothy Corbridge: lap steel, 2nd guitar

Discography

Albums

  • Grown-Ups (May 2007) (CD/LP/download album - released in various countries through Fabtone, Angular Recording Corporation, Noise Deluxe, Slumberland, Speak N Spell/Etch N Sketch)
  • Life is sweet (May 2008) (CD/LP/album - released in various countries through Fabtone, Bad Sneakers Records, Noise Deluxe, Slumberland, Speak N Spell/Etch N Sketch)

Singles

Compilation appearances

  • CD compilation - Dance to the Radio: Leeds featuring Unsatisfied (Dance to the Radio) April 2005
  • CD compilation on front of Thee Humbug Issue 3 featuring Unsatisfied (Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation) September 2005
  • CD compilation - What We All Want featuring You Got Me Wrong (Dance to the Radio) February 2006
  • CD compilation - Blue Skies Up: Welcome to the New Pop Revolution featuring Not So Fast (Dogbox) May 2006
  • CD compilation - Future Love Songs featuring Simply Left Behind (Angular Recording Corporation) Nov 2006
  • CD compilation - On the Bone Vol 1 featuring Let's Make A Pact (On the Bone) Feb 2007

References

  1. ^ a b Carter, Allison (2007) "For Dancing Or Thinking: A Q&A With The Lodger", Athens Exchange, 1 November 2007 "The name comes from the fact that living in the roof of someone’s house in Leeds, that’s kind of the definition of lodger."
  2. ^ a b Mason, Stewart "The Lodger Biography", allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
  3. ^ Jones, Francis "The Lodger: Grown-Ups ", Drowned in Sound, 4 June 2007
  4. ^ Strachota, Dan (2007) "The Lodger - Grown-ups" (review), SF Weekly, June 20, 2007
  5. ^ The Lodger - Grown-ups, PBM
  6. ^ Mason, Stewart "The Lodger - Grown-ups", allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
  7. ^ "Features: Albums Of 2007: #4 The Lodger - Grown-Ups", This Is Fake DIY
  8. ^ Bergstrom, John (2008) "The Lodger - Life Is Sweet" (review), Popmatters
  9. ^ Cole, Jenni (2008) "The Lodger - Life Is Sweet" (review), musicOMH
  10. ^ Sendra, Tim (2008) "The Lodger - Life Is Sweet", allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
  11. ^ Simpson, Dave (2005) "New York, eat your heart out (The new bands of Leeds)", The Guardian, August 31, 2005

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