The Rocks (band)

The Rocks were an English Punk and Indie rock band from London, UK.

Their last lineup was: James Taylor (Vocals), Mauro Venegas (Lead Guitar), Sarah Bacon (Rhythm Guitar and Keyboards), Chris Mann (Bass) and Nick Bukowski (Drums)

2001-2003

The Rocks were formed in 2001 by James Taylor and Sarah Bacon, inspired by seeing live performances by At The Drive-In. Taylor began writing the early Rocks material, recruiting lead guitarist and co-songwriter Mauro Venegas and bassist Chris Mann, mainly through a series of chance encounters. The original Rocks line-up was completed by Aidan Clooke, a bandmate of Taylor's from his previous outfit Ojo, on drums. The band's initial intention was to play its debut gig in New York and then split up, but a projected show on 17 September that year was pulled due to the events of 9/11, and the cancellation of all subsequent flights. They eventually got round to their New York debut in April 2002, having by now begun to establish themselves as fixtures on the London gigging circuit.

Early self-financed recordings made up the band's debut, independent AA-sided single, "Everybody In The Place" / "I Won't Need You When You're Dead", which garnered a favourable press response upon its release in March 2003. The follow-up release that summer, again an AA-side, paired the disco-era Rolling Stones tribute "We Got It" with the traditionally raucous set closer "The Bomb", and continued the momentum, helped by a heavy gigging schedule, which saw the band share bills with the likes of Eighties Matchbox, Futureheads, Art Brut, The Libertines, The Rakes and Razorlight.

Third single, the Blondie/Elvis Costello-inspired "Celeste" was the most accessible single so far, and moved away from their chaotic garage-punk roots, helping to expand their fan base, although failing to make a breakthrough in terms of radio play. They rounded off the year headlining the Highbury & Islington Garage in London, and began work on their debut album with producer Marc Waterman, who had previously worked with Elastica, Ride (band) and ARE Weapons.

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