East Village

East Village was a short-lived London band who combined the timeless 12-string jangle of <a href="spotify:artist:1PCZpxHJz7WAMF8EEq8bfc">the Byrds</a> with the classic songwriting chops of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Postcard+Records%22">Postcard Records</a> stalwarts <a href="spotify:artist:2u7xZP39dtED9EuRX9MUwu">Orange Juice</a> into something emotionally resonant and dryly sophisticated. Though they released only two singles during their short career, then a posthumous album, Drop Out, they staked a claim as one of the most representative U.K. guitar pop bands of the late '80s and early '90s.

Before they began playing as East Village, Martin and Paul Kelly tired of being in bands where the members didn't share a simpatico musical outlook, so they joined forces as Episode Four. Inspired by psych-pop outfits like <a href="spotify:artist:2lsMbm0cnSilhA7gZq5d36">the Action</a> and Eyes, the band, with Martin on bass and Paul on guitar, cut their teeth playing alongside groups like Thee Milkshakes and <a href="spotify:artist:4M2DWCrKQRiRJDie92zzcc">the Prisoners</a>. After a change in membership led to the addition of bassist/songwriter Johnny Wood and drummer Spencer Smith, the band recorded and released an EP, Strike Up Matches, that leaned closer to classic British guitar pop than it did garage rock. The group didn't sell a ton of records, but their impressive live set earned them a label deal. <a href="spotify:artist:5EoxN3u6u9DbgirDhiigFY">Jeff Barrett</a>, then working as a <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Creation+Records%22">Creation Records</a>' press officer, was launching his own Sub Aqua imprint, and the newly renamed East Village was one of the first acts to sign on.

The band recorded their first single with onetime <a href="spotify:artist:4HCubdy7diarb4KZo8etrq">Go-Betweens</a> producer Richard Preston; "Cubans in the Bluefields"/"Strawberry Window" was issued in 1988. It was also released as an EP with the addition of two more songs in "Break Your Neck" and "Kathleen." East Village released another single later in the year; the A-side was "Back Between Places," the flipside was made up of two songs, "Her Father's Son" and "Precious Diamond Tears," that had been cut in 1987. The band continued playing shows and working on new songs throughout 1989, though they hit a snag when <a href="spotify:artist:5EoxN3u6u9DbgirDhiigFY">Barrett</a> shuttered the Sub Aqua label while they were in the process of recording an album. They were bailed out financially by their friends Bob Stanley (soon to launch <a href="spotify:artist:1N2FgBLehaq77UEdJhCt7f">Saint Etienne</a>) and Jo Foreshaw, and were able to complete the record. <a href="spotify:artist:5EoxN3u6u9DbgirDhiigFY">Barrett</a> stopped by the studio during a session, loved what he heard, and offered to sign the group to his new label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Heavenly%22">Heavenly</a>. The band leapt at the chance, but before the album, Drop Out, saw the light of day, they split while playing a show at London's New Cross Venue.

The record was finally released in 1993 by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Heavenly%22">Heavenly</a> and Australian label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Summershine%22">Summershine</a> -- which had issued their "Vibrato" single in 1991. The latter label also released the singles collection Hotrod Hotel in 1994. After East Village's breakup, Paul Kelly played in the indie pop band <a href="spotify:artist:0E8kGv3nbsjzYQ9AWEEdeO">Birdie</a> with Debsy Wykes, formerly of <a href="spotify:artist:46mHImQWI9FD9f6QFH6whv">Dolly Mixture</a>, and became a respected filmmaker, while Martin Kelly became <a href="spotify:artist:1N2FgBLehaq77UEdJhCt7f">Saint Etienne</a>'s manager and John Wood released an album on the Japanese label Excellent titled Quiet Storm in 2006. Despite the lack of new recordings from the group, East Village's legacy of well-crafted sophisticated guitar pop continued to resonate with fans of the style, and the release of a revamped Hotrod Hotel by the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Slumberland%22">Slumberland</a> label in 2020 introduced them to a new generation. Four years later in early 2024, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Heavenly%22">Heavenly</a> reissued a remastered version of Drop Out that had the entirety of Hotrod Hotel, plus two tracks that were left off that collection, added as a bonus in some editions. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi