Kinky Machine

History

The band was formed in West London in late 1991 by Louis Eliot (vocals, guitar) and Julian Fenton (drums), with Johnny Bull (guitar) and Malcolm Pardon (bass guitar) added. After signing to the Lemon label, they released two singles in 1992, both hits on the UK Independent Chart. Their third single, "Supernatural Giver", was a minor hit, leading to a contract with MCA Records offshoot Oxygen. Further minor hits followed: "Shockaholic", which preceded their eponymous debut album, Going Out With God (by which time Pardon had been replaced by Nick Powell), and "10 Second Bionic Man".

Their second album, Bent, was released in 1994. The band toured with Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Manic Street Preachers, and drew comparisons with Pulp and Mott the Hoople; Allmusic identified influences from glam rock, punk rock, and Sergeant Pepper-era Beatles, while Colin Larkin also compared them to The Only Ones. They moved to East West Records for a final single, "London Crawling", before splitting up in 1995 after Fenton had joined The Lightning Seeds, briefly replaced by Anthony Christmas.

The band had become disillusioned with the Britpop sound, as several bands they had supported (including Supergrass and Elastica) overtook them. Eliot explained that they had been delving into British pop music influences but found Britpop boring. Eliot and Bull re-emerged in 1996 with Rialto, and Eliot later recorded with a new band, the Embers.