Smokers Die Younger
Encyclopedia
Smokers Die Younger are a four-piece rock band from Sheffield
, South Yorkshire
, England
. Their debut album opens with hardcore
grunge rock and closes with avant-garde
art-rock
, taking in dub reggae, country music
, indie
, and rock and roll
.
, Reverend and the Makers
, Little Man Tate
, Monkey Swallows the Universe
, and The Long Blondes
. They featured in a television documentary about music in Sheffield aired as Rockbyen Sheffield on Danish channel DR2 and as an episode of the Musikbyrån series on Swedish channel SVT in summer 2007.
Having played regularly at the Northern Sounds festival in France, they appeared on fashion mogul Karl Lagerfeld
's compilation CD Les Musiques Que J'aime, published by Vogue
magazine at the end of 2006.
Earlier in their musical careers, Golf had helped to found the electro-noise outfit that became 65daysofstatic
and Trout had been instrumental in many cult British bands including A.C. Temple
, Bear, Coping Saw, Kilgore Trout, Lazerboy, and Spoonfed Hybrid
.
Founding member, and bass player Graham Booth, left the band in late 2007. Also founding member and drummer Chris Trout
left the band in 2009.
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Their debut album opens with hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
grunge rock and closes with avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
art-rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
, taking in dub reggae, country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, indie
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
, and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
.
Career
Smokers Die Younger are part of the underground live music scene of Sheffield, which has produced such luminaries as Arctic MonkeysArctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...
, Reverend and the Makers
Reverend and The Makers
Reverend and The Makers are an indie pop band based in Sheffield, England and signed to Wall of Sound. The band is fronted by Jon McClure, nicknamed "The Reverend"...
, Little Man Tate
Little Man Tate
Little Man Tate is a 1991 motion picture drama directed by and starring Jodie Foster.It tells the story of Fred Tate, a 7-year-old child prodigy who struggles to self-actualize in a social and psychological construct that largely fails to accommodate his intelligence...
, Monkey Swallows the Universe
Monkey Swallows the Universe
Monkey Swallows the Universe was an acoustic/indie band from Sheffield, England. MSTU is centred around its founders, Nat Johnson and Kevin Gori, who formed the band in 2003 after meeting at the University of Sheffield. In the band's first incarnation they both sang and played acoustic guitars...
, and The Long Blondes
The Long Blondes
The Long Blondes were a five-piece English indie rock band formed in Sheffield, United Kingdom in 2003 by Dorian Cox , Reenie Hollis , Emma Chaplin , Kate Jackson and Screech Louder .After several critically...
. They featured in a television documentary about music in Sheffield aired as Rockbyen Sheffield on Danish channel DR2 and as an episode of the Musikbyrån series on Swedish channel SVT in summer 2007.
Having played regularly at the Northern Sounds festival in France, they appeared on fashion mogul Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld is a German fashion designer, artist and photographer based in Paris. He has collaborated on a variety of fashion and art related projects, most notably as head designer and creative director for the fashion house Chanel...
's compilation CD Les Musiques Que J'aime, published by Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
magazine at the end of 2006.
Earlier in their musical careers, Golf had helped to found the electro-noise outfit that became 65daysofstatic
65daysofstatic
65daysofstatic are an instrumental post-rock and math rock band from Sheffield, England comprising Paul Wolinski, Joe Shrewsbury, Rob Jones and Simon Wright...
and Trout had been instrumental in many cult British bands including A.C. Temple
A.C. Temple
A.C. Temple were an alternative rock band from Sheffield, England, formed in 1985. They released four albums before splitting up in 1991.-History:...
, Bear, Coping Saw, Kilgore Trout, Lazerboy, and Spoonfed Hybrid
Spoonfed Hybrid
Spoonfed Hybrid were a dream pop duo in the north of England in the early 1990s.The band was formed in 1993 by Ian Masters and Chris Trout, initially as The Long Lost. Masters had just left the band he founded in 1987, Pale Saints, which continued without him. Trout had been guitarist in A.C...
.
Band members
- James Goldthorpe (Golf) : vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s - Rhys Edwards: keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Ian Turley : bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Neil Piper : drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Amy Dutronc : AutoharpAutoharpThe autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Katherine Jackson : violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
Founding member, and bass player Graham Booth, left the band in late 2007. Also founding member and drummer Chris Trout
Chris Trout
Chris Trout is a British musician and writer.He has played in several Nottingham and Sheffield-based bands, including Kilgore Trout, A.C.Temple , Spoonfed Hybrid, Bear, Lazerboy, Coping Saw, Smokers Die Younger....
left the band in 2009.
Discography
- SDY. 7" vinylGramophone recordA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
. [Detail] Recordings. 6 December 2004 - Five-O / Kermit Song. 7" vinylGramophone recordA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
. Thee Sheffield Phonographic CorporationThee Sheffield Phonographic CorporationThee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation, or Thee SPC, is an independent record label based in Sheffield, UK. It is one of the most influential labels in the Yorkshire area, having given early breaks and support to many bands in the so-called New Yorkshire scene. The label was formed by members of...
. 18 July 2005 - I Spy Dry Fear. Download-only single. Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation. 20 March 2006
- X Wants The Meat. CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
album. [Detail] Recordings / Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation. 27 March 2006 - Sketch Pads. 7" vinylGramophone recordA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
. Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation. 21 July 2008 - Smokers Die Younger. Download & CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
album. 21 September 2009