Would-be-goods are a British indie pop

Indie pop

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

 band fronted by singer Jessica Griffin, noted for her precise received pronunciation

Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...

 accent when singing (very rare in British pop music

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 generally). Their name was inspired by the 1899 adventure story by children's author E. Nesbit

E. Nesbit

Edith Nesbit was an English author and poet whose children's works were published under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television...

.

Career

On her first album, released on the él label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

, Griffin had no band of her own, and was backed by members of The Monochrome Set

The Monochrome Set

The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk band originally formed in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides...

. The Camera Loves Me was critically acclaimed in the UK and Japan. In 1993 Griffin worked with the Monochrome Set on a second album, Mondo, produced by Monochrome Set singer Bid and released on the Japanese label Polystar. This album was later released in the UK on the Cherry Red label.

Peter Momtchiloff

Peter Momtchiloff

Peter Momtchiloff is a British guitarist and bassist. He was educated at Winchester College and Worcester College, Oxford....

, formerly of Talulah Gosh

Talulah Gosh

Talulah Gosh were a guitar-pop group from Oxford, England and one of the leading bands of the twee pop movement, taking their name from the headline of an NME interview with Clare Grogan. They supposedly formed when Amelia Fletcher and Elizabeth Price, both wearing Pastels badges, met at a club in...

, Heavenly

Heavenly (British band)

Heavenly were a 1990s twee pop band, originally forming in Oxford, England in 1989. Amelia Fletcher , Mathew Fletcher , Peter Momtchiloff and Robert Pursey had all been members of Talulah Gosh, a key member of the C86 scene.-History:Heavenly debuted with the 7" single "I Fell in Love Last...

, and Marine Research

Marine Research

Marine Research was an indie rock/twee pop band, based in Oxford/London , formed in 1997 by four of the five members of Heavenly , following the suicide of Heavenly drummer Mathew Fletcher...

 and guitarist in Scarlet's Well

Scarlet's Well

Scarlet's Well are a British pop band formed in 1998 by Bid of The Monochrome Set, after the latter band amicably split for the second time.They originally started as a studio project, the first four albums featuring a total of ten lead vocalists, including Bid , Zarif and Alice Healey, the latter...

, joined the band as lead guitarist and bassist in 1999. Two EPs, Emmanuelle Béart and Sugar Mummy, were released in 2001 and 2002 respectively, followed by a new album, Brief Lives, a joint release by US label Matinée Recordings and UK-based Fortuna Pop!. By this time two new members had joined the band: Deborah Green (former member of Thee Headcoatees

Thee Headcoatees

Thee Headcoatees is a band that was formed in the Medway Garage Scene in north Kent, England in 1991. The members of this all girl band were Holly Golightly, Kyra LaRubia, Ludella Black and "Bongo" Debbie Green.-Formation:...

) on drums and Lupe Nuñez-Fernandez on bass. After the band recorded a fourth album, The Morning After, in 2004, Nuñez-Fernandez left to concentrate on touring and recording with her own band Pipas and was replaced by Andy Warren, former member of Adam and the Ants

Adam and the Ants

Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...

 and The Monochrome Set

The Monochrome Set

The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk band originally formed in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides...

. The Would-be-goods' fifth album, Eventyr, was released in November 2008.

Would-be-goods have performed live in the United States, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and France as well as the UK.

Singles and EPs

• "Fruit Paradise"/"Hanging Gardens Of Reigate" (7-inch single, él Records, 1987)
• "The Camera Loves Me"/"Cecil Beaton's Scrapbook" (7-inch single, él Records, 1988)
• Emmanuelle Béart (four-track EP, Matinee Recordings, 2001)
• Sugar Mummy: "Sugar Mummy"/"Spanish Tragedy"/"Perfect Dear" (7-inch EP single, Fortuna Pop! Records, 2002)

Albums

• The Camera Loves Me (CD and LP, él Records/Cherry Red, 1988; re-released with bonus tracks in 1999 and 2003)
• Mondo (CD, Polystar, 1993)
• Brief Lives (CD, Matinee Recordings, 2002)
• The Morning After (CD, Matinee Recordings, 2004)
• Eventyr (CD, Matinee Recordings, 2008)

External links

• Official website
• The Would-be-goods page at Matinée Recordings
• The Would-be-goods page at Cherry Red