History

Formed in the mid '90s, Bluebottle Kiss took their influences from the late '80s American indie scene, which included artists such as Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...

 and the Afghan Whigs

The Afghan Whigs

The Afghan Whigs were a soul-influenced American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. PopMatters described the band as "beyond simple genre categorization, and though lauded by the music press, never got their just due."-Band history:...

, singer-songwriters of the '70s, such as Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

 and Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

, as well as the very creative Australian independent scene of the same period with artists such as The Church

The Church (band)

The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...

 and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1983. The band is fronted by Nick Cave and has featured international personnel throughout their career.-Formation and early releases :...

. The band quickly signed to Murmur

Murmur (record label)

Murmur was a record label that started as an imprint of Sony Music Australia in mid 1994. Named after REM's first album, Murmur signed a number of Australia's most successful rock bands, including Silverchair, Ammonia, Something for Kate and Jebediah...

, an imprint of Sony Records. Initially, Bluebottle Kiss found only limited commercial success due to a challenging sound that ranged dissonant and rustic sounds to folk tinged, melancholy pop.

Although dropped from Murmur after 1997's Somnambulist Homesick Blues, Bluebottle Kiss continued to make records on their own with various indie imprints. 1998's Tap Dancing on the Titanic was issued on the now-dormant Troy Horse label. 1999's Patient was released on Citadel Records

Citadel Records

Citadel Records are an independent record label from Sydney, Australia. They were created in the early 80s by John Needham. Bands that released through Citadel include Died Pretty, Deniz Tek, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, The Trilobites, Johnny Thunders & Patti Palladin, Harem Scarem, New...

 - whose legendary catalogue includes New Christs

New Christs

The New Christs are an Australian rock and roll band, led by Rob Younger, with various lineups through the 80s, 90s, Noughties. Younger was the singer in the influential Australian band Radio Birdman....

, Died Pretty

Died Pretty

Died Pretty, sometimes The Died Pretty, were an Australian alternative rock band founded by mainstays, Ron Peno as lead singer and Brett Myers as lead guitarist and backing vocalist, in Sydney in 1983 – briefly as Final Solution. Their music started from a base of early electric Bob Dylan with...

, The Stems

The Stems

The Stems were an alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1983 and were heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. They broke up in 1987, reformed in 2003 and released a new album in 2007.-Formation:...

 and more recently Knievel.

The band briefly decamped to the USA after this before regrouping as revamped four piece in 2001.

In 2002, long-time music fan, Nick Carr - inspired by labels such as Citadel - started his own label, Nonzero Records

Nonzero Records

Nonzero Records is an independent record label based in Sydney, Australia, dedicated to supporting the Sydney independent music scene and select overseas artists...

, in order to release Bluebottle Kiss' Revenge is Slow album. The album was also released in the US on the In Music We Trust label.

The relationship between Bluebottle Kiss and Nonzero Records has endured, with the band's sixth studio album - the 2 CD Doubt Seeds - being their third full-length release, among numerous singles and EPs, on the label. "Doubt Seeds' was produced by Jamie Hutchings at Linear Recording

Linear Recording

Linear Recording is a recording studio complex located in Sydney, Australia, which was established by recording engineer Christopher Vallejo and Emren Kara in 2005. Linear Recording is one of Australia's only dedicated all-analogue recording studios...

 studio in Sydney.

Albums

• Higher Up the Firetrails
  Higher Up the Firetrails
  Higher Up the Firetrails is the debut album by Australian indie rock group Bluebottle Kiss, released in 1995.-Track listing:# Beautifully tragic# One way ticket to Antarctica# Dead again# Paean for sandpaper mouth# Requiem for the Holden...
  
  (1995)
• Fear of Girls
  Fear of Girls (album)
  Fear Of Girls is the second album released in 1996 by Australian indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss.-Tracklisting:# "Claim"# "Helping you hate me"# "I'm wrong and you're right"# "Now"# "To think I'd ever disappoint you"# "Autumn comes too soon"...
  
  (1996)
• Patient
  Patient (album)
  Patient is the third album by Australian indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss, released in 1999.-Track listing:# "Return to the City of Folded Arms"# "Smother It in Honey"# "Girl Genius"# "Homeless Blueless"# "Running Around the White Picket Fence"...
  
  (1999)
• Revenge Is Slow
  Revenge Is Slow
  Revenge Is Slow is the fourth album by Australian indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss, released in 2002.-Track listing:# "Father's Hands"# "Ounce of Your Cruelty"# "Last Cinema"# "Hasten the Blows"# "Prussian Blue"# "Let the Termites Eat Our Riches"...
  
  (2002)
• Come Across
  Come Across
  Come Across is the fifth album by Australian indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss, released in 2003.-Tracklisting:# Scouthall# Everything begins and ends at exactly the right time# Something tiny# Last playboy in town# Slow train to a comfy jail...
  
  (2003)
• Doubt Seeds
  Doubt Seeds
  Doubt Seeds is a double album and the sixth full-length album release by Australian indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss, released in 2006.-CD I:# "Your Mirror Is a Vulture"# "Nova Scotia"# "Sheffield Brides"# "The Weight of the Sea"# "Scrub the Mist"...
  
  (2006)

EPs

• Double Yellow Tarred
  Double Yellow Tarred
  Double Yellow Tarred is an EP released by Australian indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss in 1995.-Tracklisting:# Raymond# Sister# Cousin# Patricia's tree# Ice on the road# Mr Catharsis# Elmers Gone...
  
  (1995)
• Somnambulist Homesick Blues
  Somnambulist Homesick Blues
  Somnambulist Homesick Blues is an EP released by Australian indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss in 1997.-Tracklisting:# Generic Teen# Boredom you are breaking my heart# ...Ain't it great to be young?# Familiar# Immune to love...
  
  (1997)
• Tap Dancing on the Titanic
  Tap Dancing on the Titanic
  Tap Dancing on the Titanic is an EP released in 1998 by indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss.-Track listing:# Tap Dancing on the Titanic# Kerry and Jill# Only the Desert Knows# Hounds of Love # Outside Are the Dogs...
  
  (1998)
• Girl Genius
  Girl Genius (EP)
  Girl Genius is an EP released by Australian indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss in 1999.-Track listing:# Girl Genius# Jealous of the Sea# Boredom You Are Breaking My Heart # All Over the World# Revelation on Francis St...
  
  (1999)
• Gangsterland (2001)
• Last Playboy in Town
  Last Playboy in Town
  Last Playboy In Town is an EP by Australian indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss, released in 2004.-Tracklisting:# "Last Playboy in Town"# "Love Me to Death"# "Spiders in a Jar"# "The Record Company"# "A New Cul de Sac"# "Soft Words Will Break Your Bones"...
  
  (2004)
• A Little Bit of Light (2005)
• The Women Are an Army (2006)
• Slight Return + Out Seeds
  Slight Return + Out Seeds
  Slight Return + Out Seeds is an EP released by the indie rock band Bluebottle Kiss in 2007.-Track listing:#"Slight Return"#"Stop That You're Making Me Nervous"#"There's a Hole"#"Killing the Grass"#"Swollen River"#"Ghosts of Mosman"...
  
  (2007)

Singles

• "Rust and the Time" (1996)
• "Autumn Comes Too Soon" (1996)
• "Helping You Hate Me" (1996)
• "Return to the City of Folded Arms" (1999)
• "Ounce of Your Cruelty" (2001)
• "Father's Hands" (2002)
• "Everything Begins and Ends at Exactly the Right Time" (2003)

External links

• Official band website
• Myspace page
• Heart/Noise: The Ballad of Bluebottle Kiss - comprehensive feature article from Mess+Noise covering the band's career up until the "Doubt Seeds" tour (2006)
• Blue Road 50 minute documentary covering the band's February/March 2006 tour with Richmond Fontaine
  Richmond Fontaine
  -History:Formed in 1994, Richmond Fontaine started touring the Pacific Northwest live circuit to support their first three albums released on Cavity Search Records. Gradually gaining attention in the UK and Europe the band began regularly touring there. Most of the core musicians and producer JD...
  
  .