MISS BLACK AMERICA
"When the Miss Black America manifesto says ’Let the white noise take you over’ it’s not a command. It’s an acceptance of the inevitability of fate. It’s time to rejoice because music has finally delivered a band that we could quite feasibly fall in love with." - Drownedinsound.com, 2001
"The best voice-to-the-voiceless punks around" - Rock Sound, 2005
"Your new cult heroes... we need Miss Black America" - NME, 2002
"A definite winner... suited to almost anyone who likes modern music" - Zero, 2005
"The Best Band in Britain" - Rolling Stone, 2002
"They have the motivation, they have the tunes, they have the genius factor, they have a magnetic frontman with both eyeliner and ready quips – what can stand in their way? Look out – they’re coming out screaming." - Drownedinsound.com, 2001
***BIOGRAPHY***
Miss Black America formed in the sleepy English town of Bury St Edmunds in October 1999. Influenced as much by the local drum n bass scene, The Stone Roses and dEUS as Manic Street Preachers and The Clash, their sound was a direct reaction to the boredom and frustration of small-town life, which quickly made them rather popular on the East Anglian Axis of Rock (alongside The Dawn Parade, The Exiles, Blue Gandhi, Becky Jago and The Secret Hairdresser).
Debut single, the self-financed Adrenaline Junkie Class-A Mentalist EP, sold out within weeks of release (on local label R*E*P*E*A*T Records) after legendary DJ John Peel began to champion the band on his Radio One show. Over the next couple of years, the band recorded numerous BBC and XFM sessions (for Peel, Steve Lamacq, Tom Robinson and John Kennedy), and in 2003 were invited by Peel to play at the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen, Holland.
MBA signed to Integrity Records (home to Million Dead, Reuben and Katastrophy Wife) in 2001, and debut album God Bless Miss Black America won widespread critical praise (Rolling Stone magazine’s Michael Krugman and Jason Cohen voted God Bless... their Album of the Year 2002); all five singles from the album ranked highly in John Peel’s Festive Fifty and live favourite Talk Hard was Virgin Radio Drivetime Single Of The Week.
The band’s hefty touring schedule and close association with Rock Against Racism saw MBA playing high-profile supports with The Libertines, Liars, The Long Blondes, Buzzcocks, The Long Blondes, Engerica, Parkinsons, Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, The Others, Doves, Billy Bragg, Tex La Homa, Cornershop, Alabama 3, The Dears, The Dandy Warhols, Kinesis, Therapy?, Reuben, Antihero (later Pull Tiger Tail), Parva (later The Kaiser Chiefs) and Ms Dynamite.
After a year’s break from touring to write and record, Miss Black America signed to London-based Ruby Slippers Records in August 2005. Following a series of riotous gigs in the capital, new album Terminal once again attracted praise from the UK press, backed up with enthusiastic radio support and more live sessions. The first single from the album, Dot Dot Dot, was Rock Sound magazine’s Single Of The Month, while follow-up Drowning By Numbers was Single Of The Week in The Independent.
Following the release of Emotional Junkmail, the final single to be taken from Terminal, and an accompanying UK tour with We Start Fires, Miss Black America decided to call it a day in July 2006. The band members have all gone on to do lots of other things, although core members singer Seymour and guitarist Mat still see each other far too often, and have never ruled out the possibility of recording together again sometime in the not-too-distant future.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE BY MAIL ORDER:
The albums GOD BLESS MISS BLACK AMERICA (buy HERE) and TERMINAL (buy HERE)