Loves Ugly Children
| Loves Ugly Children | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | LUC, The Uglies |
| Origin | Christchurch New Zealand |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Years active | 1989–1998 |
| Labels | Flying Nun Records, Failsafe Records, Flat City Recordings |
| Associated acts | The Subliminals Sleepers Union |
| Past members | Simon MacLaren Angela 'Floss" Leslie Jason Young Paul Reid Gregg Cairns Scott McArthur Simon Crockett |
Loves Ugly Children were an indie rock band on New Zealand's Flying Nun Records, amongst other labels, during the 1990s. They released two albums, many EPs, singles and videos and toured extensively through their home country of New Zealand, as well as Australia and England.
Loves Ugly Children was formed in Christchurch in 1989 by vocalist/guitarist Simon Maclaren, Scott MacArthur (guitar), Angela ‘Floss" Leslie (bass) and Simon Crockett (drums). The band recorded five tracks which appeared on a tape release called Stagger Failsafe Records.
The band split up and reformed as a three piece with MacLaren, Floss and a new drummer from Dunedin, Gregg Cairns. They didn't play any material from the previous line up, though they did decide to revert to the name Loves Ugly Children. They recorded several songs, none of which were released. Greg was offered an album and tour with The Verlaines, and left the band during July 1990. LUC again ceased to exist for nine months.
A jam with neighbour Jason Young (Excellent Soul Therapy and Cultivation) during May 1991 led to the reformation of Loves Ugly Children with their first gig only two weeks later. Important songs created in these first two weeks included Good Things, Strangers Song and Love You Dead which quickly became standards in the LUC set.. A tape-only release (Freak Scene) of the song Good Things went on to be #1 on RDU campus radio. The next six months saw LUC play many shows, win a war of the bands at The Carlton and tour the South Island.
In mid-1992 the band received an Arts Council grant and recorded the EP Purge. This CD-only release, recorded by Bart Barkman, came out on the Flat City label in August 1993 and would prove to be central to attracting the attention of Flying Nun Records. In between the recording and release of Purge, LUC worked on songs for the Avalanche CD Failsafe Records. One song from that session, Good Thing, which influenced the title of the Failsafe compilation Good Things on which it appeared.
The Uglies continued to have a strong live presence in Christchurch, including performing at the Avalanche CD release gig (April 1993) in front of an audience of one thousand. The band followed this with further local shows drawing large crowds to venues like Warners, helping grow the Christchurch scene along with other prominent bands Pumpkinhead and 147 Swordfish. LUC slowly built up their national following with successive North Island tours, eventually winning over Flying Nun's Roger Sheppard, and were signed to the seminal NZ label in early 1994.
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