UNDERGROUND LOVERS

Vincent Giarrusso and Glenn Bennie met in high school in suburban Melbourne during the 1970s. Sharing an appreciation for the likes of Joy Division, New Order, The Cure and Melbourne's underground electronic/experimental scene, they began collaborating musically whilst studying drama at university. The first fruit of their partnership was a one-off single ''Man Made Dumb / Climb'' released in 1988 under the moniker Blast.

Underground Lovers officially assembled in late 1989, playing their first gig in May 1990 at Melbourne's Corner Hotel, supporting The Macguffins. In addition to Bennie and Giarrusso, the original lineup featured Philippa Nihill (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Stephen Downes (bass) and Richard Andrew (drums); Maurice Argiro replaced Downes on bass following the first show. Underground Lovers self-funded and recorded their self- titled album debut with producer Simon Grounds and put it out through Shock Records in March 1991. This album was rereleased in 2022 on the Cheersquad label. By the end of that year an EP of newer material, 'Nice', came out, in addition to a contribution to the Youngblood 3 compilation, 'Ripe'.

1992 saw a considerable rise in the band's fortunes. They won Best New Artist at the ARIA Awards for their self-titled debut, and supported The Cure and My Bloody Valentine on their Australian tours of that year. In January they entered the studio with producer Wayne Connolly (also of The Welcome Mat), and cut their more layered and experimental second album, 'Leaves Me Blind'. The album came out first in the UK in August through the short-lived 4AD imprint Guernica. By that stage Polydor had signed the Underground Lovers in Australia, going on to release 'Leaves Me Blind' locally in December.

Following an extensive tour of the UK and North America for the first half of 1993, the Underground Lovers enlisted Melburnian electronic producers David Chesworth and Robert Goodge (ex-Essendon Airport) for work on their third album. Richard Andrew left the band around this time. Newcomer, Derek Yuen took his place. 'Dream It Down' would surface in 1994, spawning the Triple J favourite "Losin' It". The album was both critically acclaimed and the band’s biggest commercial success. The band quit Polydor in 1995 and, in a quest for more artistic freedom, set up their own Mainstream label (in conjunction with the big-league indie, Rubber Records).

Also produced by Wayne Connolly, 'Rushall Station', which came out in April 1996, was their most 'bare bones' recording since their debut. Philippa Nihill left the band during the recording of the album (though she recorded vocals for two tracks). Later that year Giarusso self-published a book, also called Rushall Station, that combined his own song lyrics with a preview of his novel-in-progress, The Bogstar Ritual. The band subsequently received a nomination for Best Independent Release at the 1997 ARIA Awards. Also in 1997 Giarusso and Bennie put out the debut album by their experimental side-project GBVG, titled 'Whitey Trickstar', in addition to the fifth Underground Lovers album 'Ways T'Burn'. The latter saw a move towards more electronic territory. Drummer Derek Yuen departed the band during the 'Ways T'Burn' recording sessions, Autohaze drummer Andrew Nunns filled the drum stool for future touring and recording duties.

Giarrusso and Bennie maintained a low profile for much of 1998, though they did release another GBVG project - a cover of Can's "I Want More". The vocals were credited to a made-up Japanese chanteuse named Mitsuame, who in reality was Triple J and Recovery co-host Jane Gazzo. Maurice Argiro left the band at the end of 1998. Emma Bortignon came on board as bass player and the Underground lovers readied their sixth album 'Cold Feeling'. 'Cold Feeling' was the Underground Lovers' most electronic-influenced album to date. It also featured minor contributions from The Paradise Motel's Mérida Sussex, and ex-Triffids pedal steel guitarist Graham Lee, among other Melburnian indie musicians. The title track received considerable airplay on Triple J.

Underground Lovers played shows supporting New Order during their Australian tour in January 2002 before taking an extended break. It was announced in July 2009 that the "classic" early 1990s lineup of Underground Lovers would reform for an appearance at the Homebake Festival in Sydney on 5 December. In conjunction with the reunion, Rubber Records re-released Underground Lovers' 1990 self-titled album and post-1996 output digitally on iTunes that November. A 'secret' warm-up show was performed on 1 November at Melbourne's The Toff In Town. Well-received club shows in Sydney and Melbourne were also performed in December.

In October 2010, music writers and critics John O'Donnell, Toby Creswell and Craig Mathieson named the album 'Leaves Me Blind' as the 54th greatest Australian album in their book 100 Best Australian Albums. The band supported Primal Scream for their Melbourne shows in February 2011 and also supported Mark Gardener (formerly of Ride) on his Australian tour in 2012.

Underground Lovers' next album, 'Weekend', was released in April 2013, featuring the mix of energetic rock and electronica that is now a signature of the band. 'Weekend' was created with longtime studio collaborators Wayne Connolly and mix engineer Tim Whitten along with a new addition to the production crew, recording engineer Tim Prince. The six-piece version of the band continues to play a few shows around Australia each year while still maintaining their relationship with Rubber Records, having released two more albums, 'Staring at You Staring at Me' in 2017 and 'A Left Turn' in 2019, plus two separate compilations of remixes (Shadows) and b-sides (Others).

Members

Glenn Bennie (guitar/vocals), Vincent Giarrusso (vocals, guitar), Maurice Argiro (bass),
Philippa Nihill (vocals/keyboards/guitar), Richard Andrew (drums), Emma Bortignon (bass), Stephen Downes (bass), Andrew Nunns (drums), Derek J. Yuen (drums)

SINGLES

Losin' It

18 SEP '94

#93

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Lovers

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/