Moose

This UK band comprises Russell Yates (vocals), Kevin "K.J." McKillop (guitar), Damien Warburton (drums) and Jeremy Tishler (bass). They inadvertently began the so-called "shoegazing" movement, so dubbed because of the static nature of bands who focused on the floorboards instead of their audience, when Yates read lyrics taped to the floor. They rose to notoriety with supports to Lush, from whom they borrowed Chris Acland when Warburton failed to appear at gigs. Another temporary change arose when McKillop attended his child's birth, and Tim Gane from Stereolab stepped in. Conversely, Yates moonlighted as a Stereolab guitarist and McKillop played with See See Rider. It was this sort of activity that fuelled "The Scene That Celebrates Itself" tag, summoned by the Melody Maker"s Steve Sutherland to describe the incestuous nature of a clutch of upcoming bands who were not indulging in traditional rivalries. Three EPs on Hut Records comprised the original batch of recordings, the last of which was the first to confirm that the band could offer more than the voguish My Bloody Valentine influences. The C&W-tinged "This River Will Never Run Dry" was applauded from almost all corners. Shortly afterwards both Warburton and Tishler left and were replaced by Lincoln Fong (bass), Russell Fong (guitar) and Richard Thomas (drums). Yates also achieved prominence through the Lillies, the brainchild of Stuart Mutler, editor of Tottenham Hotspurs" soccer magazine The Spur. This included Miki Berenyi and Chris Acland from Lush, Yates and Kevin McKillop from Moose, and was masterminded by Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins. Together they recorded a flexi-disc entitled "And David Seaman Will Be Very Disappointed About That". Despite strong critical reaction in their favour, Moose were dropped by Hut when they failed to garner significant commercial reward for . XYZ. The band released the Liquid Make Up EP on their own Cool Badge label before relocating to Belgium's Play It Again Sam Records. Honey Bee and Live A Little Love A Lot further moved them away from indie rock territory, dabbling in soul, folk and country nuances. The critical response was still strong, but again did not provide an upsurge in sales. It would seem that Moose are destined to remain a glorious cult, a situation their subsequent releases did little to remedy.



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