Formed in 1992 by Justine Frischmann, Donna Matthews, Annie Holland and Justin Welsh, the group received critical acclaim for their first single 'Stutter' and subsequent album 'Elastica'. (which debuted at Number 1 in the British Album charts)
Taking influences which can mainly be derived from the late 70's punk era (Wire + The Stranglers), the album was released in the heyday of Brit pop. However, their plagiarism did not do unnoticed - ending up in the law courts of England
Inner conflicts contributed to the delay of the Second Album 'The Menace', which was finally released 5 years later. First Holland departed, being replaced by Sheila Chipperfield albeit for a very temporary period. Then in 1999 the group added David Bush (on keyboards - a sign of their raw punk sound being replaced). Annie came back to replace Sheila Chipperfield, and Paul Jones (from Linoleum) replaced Donna, who's constant disagreements with Justin proved too deteriorating for the group to accommodate the both of them.
Finally Mew was added as a second keyboardist.
An EP was released in 1999 to mixed reviews. Many of the critics were disappointed that a five-year hiatus only produced five tracks, which did not even please many hardcore fans.
The highlight of the EP was a collaboration with Mark E Smith of The Fall called 'How we wrote Elastica Man'
A album preceded it the following year, which was a much more cohesive piece of work, and delved into space rock, punk and kinks styled 60's pop (the lovely 'nothing stays the same').
Just as the group seemed to be contributing to the British Music Scene they announced their split the following year.
Hopefully the individual members of Elastica will be able to release something within the next five years.
