A '90s Indie/Rock Map of Britain Quiz

Terrorvision are from Bradford in Yorkshire, as they mention in the song 'Easy', although they originally formed in nearby Keighley as the Spoilt Bratz. They consisted of singer/guitarist Tony Wright, guitarist Mark Yates, bassist Leigh Marklew and drummer Ian 'Shutty' Shuttleworth. They released their debut album 'Formaldehyde' in 1993, and achieved some success with the singles 'Oblivion' and 'Perseverance' (which went Top Five on the UK Singles Chart), but it was with 'Tequila' that they hit the big time in 1999. The single version was a dance remix by Mint Royale, heavily promoted by Radio One DJ Zoe Ball (and in my opinion, the original version is way better).

Terrorvision split in 2001 after a farewell gig in Bradford. Wright worked as a dry stone waller and released some solo material, while Yates became an artist and Marklew formed Malibu Stacey. After a few on-off reunions, Terrorvision released 'Super Delux' in 2011 and 'We Are Not Robots' in 2024. The latter included an unlikely Christmas song, 'The Night When Lemmy Died'. Although Wright, Marklew and Yates came back for the reunions, Shutty left in 2010 - due to arthritis preventing him from drumming - and was replaced by Cameron Greenwood.

Massive Attack are from Bristol, and one of the leading bands of the city's trip-hop scene, along with Portishead and Tricky (who was an original member, and later rejoined in 2016). The other founding members were rapper Robert '3D' Del Naja, and DJs Andrew 'Mushroom' Vowles and Grant 'Daddy G' Marshall. They released their debut album 'Blue Lines' in 1991, which included the smash hit 'Unfinished Sympathy', featuring Shara Nelson on guest vocals. Nelson also sang on 'Safe from Harm'.

Although 3D, Tricky and Daddy G did lead vocals on singles such as 'Inertia Creeps', 'Karmacoma' and 'Risingson', Massive Attack have collaborated with many vocalists over the years. Other guest vocalists have included Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins on 'Teardrop', Blur's Damon Albarn on 'Splitting the Atom', Horace Andy on 'Angel', Sinead O'Connor on 'Special Cases' and 'A Prayer for England', Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval on 'Paradise Circus', and Everything But the Girl's Tracey Thorn on 'Protection'. Daddy G briefly left the band in 2001 and did not feature on '100th Window', but returned for their fifth album 'Heligoland', while Mushroom left.

The only Northern Irish band in this quiz, Ash are from Belfast. Singer/guitarist Tim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray formed Ash while still in school; Hamilton and Wheeler had previously been in an Iron Maiden covers band called Vietnam. Wheeler wrote 'Girl from Mars', one of the band's first hit singles, when he was 16. They released their debut album, '1977' (the year Wheeler was born), in 1996. Ash became a quartet when guitarist Charlotte Hatherley joined in 1997, and the band released their second album 'Nu-Clear Sounds' the following year; however, it nearly bankrupted them due to not selling well. Fortunately, the follow-up, 'Free All Angels', was a commercial success.

Hatherley left the band in 2006 and went solo after the original members decided they wanted to go back to being a trio. In 2008, Ash played '1977' in its entirety at two nights in London. After going on hiatus for several years, they returned with 'Kablammo!' in 2015.

One of the two Scottish bands in this quiz, the Cocteau Twins were from Grangemouth, near Falkirk. In spite of their name, there were three of them: singer Elizabeth Fraser and multi-instrumentalists Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde (there was a fourth member, bassist Will Heggie, but he left in 1983). One of the many strange and ethereal bands signed to Ivo Watt-Russell's 4AD label, they released their debut album 'Garlands' in 1982. Their early work was notable for not featuring discernible lyrics, but rather vocalisations by Fraser, although this changed with their later albums.

After the 1990 release of 'Heaven or Las Vegas', their most commercially successful album, the Cocteau Twins left 4AD. Fraser and Guthrie were a couple, and problems in their relationship led to the band splitting; though they initially reformed in 2005 and planned to play the Coachella Festival, nothing came of it and Fraser later stated that the band would never reform. Guthrie and Raymonde founded the label Bella Union, while Fraser went on to collaborate with Massive Attack on 'Teardrop'.

New Order are based in Salford, near Manchester, and were part of the city's 'Madchester' scene, along with the Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets and Factory label mates the Happy Mondays. They were formed by Joy Division's guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris; Gillian Gilbert, who had initially joined as a guitarist, became the band's keyboardist, while Sumner took over lead vocals. Unlike the new wave/post-punk Joy Division, New Order went in a more electronic direction. They released their debut album 'Movement' in 1981. The 1983 single 'Blue Monday' became the best-selling 12-inch single of all time and a club favourite.

New Order released 'World in Motion', England's 1990 World Cup anthem and a repurposed version of their theme from 'Reportage', with a guest rap by Liverpool's John Barnes. They split in 1993 and reformed in 1998 at the suggestion of manager Rob Gretton, including Joy Division songs in their set. Gilbert temporarily left the band to take care of her and Morris' children, but rejoined in 2011. Hook, who had a fractured relationship with Sumner, left in 2007 and formed Peter Hook and the Light, whose set largely consists of Joy Division songs; his son Jack is the band's bassist. He also played in Monaco with David Potts. Outside New Order, Sumner had his own side project with the Smiths' Johnny Marr, while Morris and Gilbert recorded together as The Other Two.

Super Furry Animals are the only Welsh band in this quiz. They formed in Cardiff in 1993, after having played in other local bands; singer Gruff Rhys and drummer Daf Ieuan had been in Ffa Coffi Pawb together, guitarist Huw Bunford and bassist Guto Pryce were in U Thant, and Ieuan and Pryce both briefly played with Catatonia in their pre-fame days. Actor Rhys Ifans was also an early member, but left to focus on his acting career, with Gruff Rhys taking over on lead vocals and Ieuan's brother Cian Ciaran joining on keyboards. They released their debut album 'Fuzzy Logic' in 1996.

SFA are Welsh speakers and released a Welsh-language album, 'Mwng', in 2000. They also briefly held a record for having a really long EP title, featuring the name of a famous Welsh town on the island of Anglesey. The band went on hiatus in 2010, although they reunited briefly in 2012 to play at a charity football match in memory of the Welsh footballer Gary Speed. SFA later reformed in 2019, minus Rhys, as Das Koolies, while Rhys made several solo albums, some in English, some in Welsh.

The Lightning Seeds are from Liverpool, and were founded by Ian Broudie, formerly of Big in Japan. Broudie had also worked as a producer; in the '00s, he worked with a new wave of bands that included the Subways, The Coral and fellow Scousers the Zutons (whose saxophonist Abi Harding later toured with the Lightning Seeds). Originally, Broudie was the sole member and played all instruments on the Lightning Seeds' 1990 debut album 'Cloudcuckooland', as well as producing it. However, they became a band when Broudie later recruited guitarist Paul Hemmings, bassist Martyn Campbell, drummer Chris Sharrock and keyboardists Ali Kane and Angie Pollock.

The Lightning Seeds teamed up with comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner for England's Euro 1996 song 'Three Lions', which went on to become a favourite with England fans. Broudie also worked with Alison Moyet, Terry Hall of the Specials (who recorded his own version of 'Sense' for his solo album) and Nicky Wire of the Manic Street Preachers. On the subject of football, 'The Life of Riley', written about Broudie's son, was the theme tune for 'Match of the Day's 'Goal of the Month' section in the mid-'90s. The subject of the song would later join his dad's band as a guitarist in 2009, while original drummer Sharrock's son joined as drummer in 2016.

The pop-punk band Kenickie were from Sunderland, in the northeast of England (NOT Newcastle, as Courtney Love once thought!) Although younger players may know Lauren Laverne (aka Lauren Gofton) as a DJ, older players might remember her as being Kenickie's lead singer and guitarist. The other members were singer and guitarist Marie du Santiago (Marie Nixon), bassist Emmy-Kate Montrose (Emma Jackson) and drummer Johnny X, aka Laverne's brother Pete. Kenickie formed while the three female members were at a sixth form college and released their debut EP, 'Catsuit City', on local label Slampt. They moved to Fierce Panda for the release of their 1997 debut 'At the Club'.

Sadly, I never got to see Kenickie as they split after the release of their second album 'Get In!', which sold poorly. Laverne announced the end of the band at a gig in London in October 1998. After Kenickie, she guested on Mint Royale's 'Don't Falter' and became a TV presenter and DJ, while Johnny X recorded under the name of J Xaverre. Nixon and Jackson formed Rosita; Nixon later went on to play with the Cornshed Sisters, a folk band, while Jackson did a PhD in Sociology at Goldsmiths University, before becoming a lecturer there.

Lush were from London. They were initially a shoegaze band, consisting of singer Meriel Barham, guitarists Emma Anderson and Miki Berenyi, bassist Steve Rippon and drummer Chris Acland; Anderson and Berenyi had met in high school. Barham left to join the Pale Saints and Berenyi became the band's main singer, writing most of the songs with Anderson. They released their first mini-album, 'Scar', in 1989. Rippon left in 1992 and was replaced by Phil King, and Lush released their first full-length album 'Spooky' that year. They moved in a more commercial direction with 'Split' in 1994, and 'Lovelife' in 1996; the latter featured Pulp's Jarvis Cocker duetting with Berenyi on 'Ciao!' Sadly, Acland, who had been suffering from depression, took his own life in 1996 and the band split, as they felt unable to go on in the wake of his death.

After Acland's death, Berenyi worked in the media as a production editor while Anderson formed Sing-Sing with singer Lisa O'Neill. The band reformed in 2015, with Elastica's Justin Welch on drums, but an American tour went awry due to Berenyi making a mistake on her visa application form and not getting her visa in time. Lush later split due to Berenyi falling out with King and Anderson; King quit the band in 2016 and was replaced by Michael Conroy of Modern English for what would be Lush's last gig, in Manchester. Berenyi later formed Piroshka with Welch, her partner Moose McKillop and Conroy, while Anderson released her solo debut, 'Pearlies', in 2023.

The other of the two Scottish bands in this quiz, Belle & Sebastian are based in Glasgow. Named after a French kids' programme about a boy and his dog, they were founded by singer and songwriter Stuart Murdoch and bassist Stuart David in 1996. The two Stuarts recruited other local musicians to help them make a demo: cellist and singer Isobel Campbell, keyboardist Chris Geddes, drummer Richard Colburn (David's flatmate), guitarist Stevie Jackson. Violinist and flautist Sarah Martin joined later that year, and the line-up was completed by trumpeter Mick Cooke in 1998. They released their first album, 'Tigermilk', in 1996; only 1000 copies were printed at the time, and when it was re-released in 1999, original copies were selling for hundreds of dollars!

Belle & Sebastian won the BRIT Award for Best Newcomer in 1999, despite being on their third album by then. David left the band in 2000 to concentrate on Looper, a side project with his wife Karn, and Campbell left in 2002 to pursue a solo career as the Gentle Waves. She also collaborated with Mark Lanegan, formerly of the Screaming Trees.