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All Music Guide:
Shortly after the breakup of his acclaimed indie pop group the Faith Healers at the end of 1994, London-based guitarist/vocalist Tom Cullinan formed Quickspace Supersport with Sean Newsham (bass), Wendy Harper (vocals/guitar), Max Corradi (drums), and Barry Stillwell (keyboards). While Cullinan's new band retained some of the same droning tension and fuzzy pop sensibilities of the Faith Healers, Quickspace Supersport's sound proved more malleable and their lyrics more upbeat.
In March 1995, the group released their debut 7", Quickspace Happy Song #1, on their own Kitty Kitty Corporation label. Though they received an initially tepid response from a Brit-pop-preoccupied press, Quickspace Supersport found friends in bands such as Sebadoh and Stereolab, both of whom they toured the U.K. with later that year. By October 1995 and the release of their landmark Superplus EP, the British press caught up with the band's tense-but-varied drone pop, and raved about their singles and live shows. Just as the momentum behind them seemed to reach critical mass, Quickspace Supersport took a six-month hiatus.
In the summer of 1996, the band returned with more than half its lineup replaced and half its name removed. Only Cullinan and Newsham remained from the original group, and new members Nina Pascale (guitar/vocals), Paul Shilton (keyboards), and Chin (drums) reenergized their sound. Now simply Quickspace, they released the bouncy, driving "Friend" single that November. In June 1997, Quickspace released their self-titled debut album to warm reviews. Songs like "Swisher" and "Quasi-Pfaff" showcased the band's lilting, folky and experimental dimensions, and "Song for Someone" illustrated why some writers described them as "Stereolab that rocks." While they recorded their second album, the group released Quickspace Supo Spot, a singles and b-sides collection that included hard-to-find compilation tracks, Peel sessions and demos, and the Precious Mountain EP, which gave a taste of the band's increasingly refined production and arrangements.
After holing up in the studio for the remainder of 1997, Quickspace rewarded their fans' patience by releasing two 7"s (compiled on the Precious Little EP) in spring 1998 and an album, Precious Falling, later that summer. Just before the album's release, drummer Chin left the band and was replaced by Steve Denton. With the number of names, band members and styles the band plays with, the only constants in Quickspace's world are quality and change. Fittingly enough, 2000's The Death of Quickspace was even issued on a new American label, Matador.
Wikipedia:
Quickspace was a London-based experimental rock band started in 1994.
History
Quickspace formed in London, originally under the name Quickspace Supersport. Tom Cullinan, vocalist and guitarist, was formerly in Th' Faith Healers but developed their punky sound into a more tuneful but experimental style. Quickspace formed their own record label called Kitty Kitty, but while releasing many of their records through this, also released on other labels such as Domino Records and Elefant Records.
Their first single, 'Found a Way', was released on the Love Train label, followed later that year by Superplus, an EP released on Domino, which got into the Indie Top 40 and earned them a reputation as a kind of "Stereolab that rocks", although this does not seem too appropriate, given their previous output. However, the label stuck.
Wendy, Max and Barry left the band, leaving Tom and Sean to think over what to do next. Rather than call it quits, they recruited Nina Pascale (vocals/guitar), Paul Shilton (keyboards) and Chin (drums), dropped the 'Supersport' part and started working again.
'Friend', the first single recorded with the new line-up, came out in early 1996 and was remarkably reminiscent of th' late Faith Healers. It was the second release on Kitty Kitty, after the band had decided to decline offers by other labels, keep a low profile and release their stuff themselves.
Meanwhile, work on their first full-length album had begun. It was released in autumn 1996, following the release of another excellent single, 'Rise'. The album itself, simply titled Quickspace, is a bit of a mixed bag, excellent songs alternating with filler material and fragments, something of an anti-album almost, but most reviews were quite favourable.
In spring 1997, a collection of their early singles and rare tracks was released on the low-priced album Supo Spot. It was followed later that year by a very Superplus-ish EP, 'The Precious Mountain'. Other than that and a few gigs around the UK, Quickspace kept a rather low profile that year.
A new single, 'Hadid', came out in May 1998. Chin, who was always only supposed to be just on a temporary assignment, left the band about the same time and was replaced by Steve Denton. Another 7", 'Quickspace Happy Song #2' came out in June, together with the Precious Little EP, which contains the songs from the 'Hadid' and 'Happy Song #2' 7-inches on one CD.
Precious Falling, the second album proper, was released on CD and double vinyl on 31 August 1998. The album had been recorded in late 1997/early 1998 (i.e. with Chin still on drums). The band then went on tour and covered pretty much all of Europe, including a gig supporting Yo La Tengo in London and a set of gigs with labelmates Novak and Ligament in the UK.
In 2000, the band released The Death of Quickspace to much critical acclaim, followed by the 'Flat Moon Society' single later that year. Then, Quickspace seemed to have disappeared from the face of the Earth, and nobody was quite sure whether the band was dead or had simply relocated to the moon. Tom Cullinan released a complete cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' LP under the pseudonym Dougal Reed, but no new Quickspace songs materialised for over three years.
Then, in 2003, an unexpected single was released on the somewhat obscure Italian Homesleep label, but it would take two more years until a completely renewed Quickspace featuring Cullinan, Ed Grimshaw (drums), Louis Jack-Jones (bass) and ex-Faith Healerette Roxanne Stephen (vocals) released their next single 'Pissed Off Boy' on the Domino label in 2005.
After this Cullinan reformed Th' Faith Healers for some concerts in early 2006 but there has been no further activity under the Quickspace label.
