BLUEBOTTLE KISS

Bluebottle Kiss were formed in Sydney in 1993 as a grunge trio by Ben Fletcher on bass guitar and vocals, Jamie Hutchings on lead guitar and lead vocals, and Peter Noble on drums. Their influences are from the late 1980s United States indie scene, which include Sonic Youth and the Afghan Whigs, singer-songwriters of the 1970s, Neil Young and Van Morrison, as well as the Australian independent scene with the Church and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The band were signed to Murmur, an imprint of Sony Music Australia.

Their debut studio album, 'Higher Up The Firetrails', was issued in April 1995. It was recorded at the Bondi Pavilion Theatre with Wayne Connolly producing (Underground Lovers, You Am I). Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, felt they did not use a regular studio setting "to capture a certain ambience. The album ran the gamut of sounds from quiet dirge to chaotic noise." They supported shows by Beck, JSBX, Crow and Silverchair. For the group's second album, 'Fear of Girls' (August 1996), they used US producer, Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Afghan Whigs). McFarlane opined "it covered a lot of ground, from tough, noisy art-rock to bleak ballads." Late in 1997 Noble was replaced on drums by Richard Coneliano.

Although dropped from Murmur after the release of the EP 'Somnambulist Homesick Blues' in 1997, Bluebottle Kiss continued to make records on their own with various indie imprints. In 1998, 'Tap Dancing on the Titanic' was issued on the now-dormant Troy Horse label. In 1999, their third album 'Patient' was released on Citadel Records, whose catalogue includes New Christs, Died Pretty, The Stems and more recently Knievel. The band briefly moved to the US after this before regrouping as four-piece in 2001. In 2002, a long-time music fan, Nick Carr - inspired by labels such as Citadel - started his own label, Nonzero Records, to release 'Revenge is Slow' album. The album was also released in the US on the In Music We Trust label. In November of that year, Triple J's Richard Kingsmill presented a music special, "Bluebottle Kiss", for their J Files series to showcase the band's output.

The relationship between Bluebottle Kiss and Nonzero Records has endured, with the band's sixth studio album - the double album 'Doubt Seeds' - being their third album, among numerous singles and EPs, on the label. Doubt Seeds was produced by Jamie Hutchings at Linear Recording studio in Sydney. The band went their separate ways in 2007, with Hutchings pursuing a solo career. The band reconvened in 2022 with the Revenge Is Slow era line-up of Hutchings, Fletcher, Coneliano and Grounds. They toured Australia in October 2022 to support the reissue of 'Patient' on vinyl.

 
Members

Jamie Hutchings (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Ben Fletcher (vocals, guitar, bass), Peter Noble (drums), Richard Coneliano (drums, piano), Ben Grounds (bass, guitar), Simon Fuhrer (drums), Jared Harrison (drums), Ross Dickie (bass)

SINGLES
"Rust and the Time" 1996 Murmur
"Return to the City of Folded Arms" 1999 Citadel
"Ounce of Your Cruelty" 2001 Nonzero
"Father's Hands" 2004 Nonzero
"A Little Bit of Light" 2005 Nonzero
"The Women Were an Army" 2006 Nonzero/Shock
"Outside Are the Dogs" (live) 2024

EPs
'Sonic Elevator Music for the Masses' 1994
'Double Yellow Tarred' 1995 Murmur
'Helping You Hate Me' 1996 Murmur
'Somnambulist Homesick Blues' 1997 Murmur 
'Tap Dancing on the Titanic' 1998Troy Horse/MDS 
'Girl Genius' 1999 Citadel
'Gangsterland' 2001 Nonzero/Shock 
'Last Playboy in Town' 2004 Nonzero/Shock

ALBUMS
'Higher Up the Firetrails' 1995 Murmur
'Fear of Girls' 1996 Murmur
'Patient' 1999 Sponge Worthy Records
'Revenge is Slow' 2002 Nonzero/Shock 
'Come Across' 2003 Nonzero/Shock 
'Doubt Seeds' 2006 Nonzero/Shock 

References

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