Elastica

Elastica are one of the most successful bands of the first wave of britpop. They were formed in mid-1992 on the initiative of former Suede guitarist Justine Frischmann and former Spitfire and Suede drummer Justin Welch. In the autumn of that year, bassist Annie Holland and guitarist Donna Matthews (ex-Darling Buds) also joined.

Justine Frischmann was undoubtedly one of the most iconic figures of the Nineties: although a champion of female emancipation in alternative rock, she never had to chase after the forcedly transgressive poses flaunted by her counterparts across the Atlantic. She also made the tabloids thanks to the love triangle involving the singers of Suede (Brett Anderson) and Blur (Damon Albarn).

After initially trying out, recording and performing under names like Vaseline and Onk, the band settled on the name Elastica in early 1993 due to legal threats from the Vaselines. Their formula was built on punk and post-punk influences combined with an unabashedly pop attitude. They became known above all for their self-titled album "Elastica" from 1995, which produced several singles that charted in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Such sudden and unexpected success, however, created no small amount of strain for the quartet: exhausting tours and relentless promotional duties led bassist Annie Holland to quit in June 1995. The remaining three members of the band also struggled to handle the stress, to the point that Frischmann herself, the creative soul of Elastica, withdrew for a few years amid nervous breakdowns and heroin problems.

The band returned to the scene with "The Menace" only five years later, but failed to recapture past glories, at the dawn of a new millennium in which English indie music had by now turned its back on britpop and was ready to embrace new names like Travis, Muse, Coldplay.

Elastica also found themselves at the centre of controversy when some bands, such as Wire (an acknowledged influence), accused them of plagiarizing some of their melodies.