Blessed Ethel

Right then, let's get February underway with Blessed Ethel. Now, I've a nasty feeling that this lot were American; they're certainly likened to the Pixies and Debbie Harry and people like that, but that seems to be a lazy comparison. There's definitely some good old fashioned grindy-twanging going on and the track featured below seems to be agenuinely good bit of indie pop; but once more dear friends I'm at a loss as to who the band actually were. In my rather limited opinion there's certainly a thread from the shoegazers of the (then) previous few years and more than a nod to the Sleepers of the time and you might spot a mention in the comments to the S*M*A*S*H entry in this here blog thing. Oh, and they also appear to have supported Lush at the Leadmill in Sheffield in 1994 at some point and S*M*A*S*H at "Fibbers" in the same year. And the drummer may have been called Tim James, or possibly Rick...

Actually, strike Tim James (whoever he may be), the official "off of the album" band list is:
· Sara Doran (Vocals)
· Dan Barnes (Guitar)
· Mike Harris (Bass)
· Rick Hunaban (Drums)

And apparently they also won the Best New Band award in 1993 at Manchester's In The City ahead of some no-hopers called Oasis...

The All Music Guide (which is a pretty good place to start and in this case all I can really find out about the band) says:

You may be happy to know that the spirit (and sound) of early Blondie has not been lost to the world -- it's alive and well and powerpopping along in the form of Blessed Ethel, a Britpop bunch who can probably lay claim to the Rezillos as another spiritual ancestor (though there's a lot less shrieking going on here.) What we have are buzzsaw guitars, snapping drums, sprightly rhythms, and Sara Doran's voice cutting through the mix like a searchlight -- no claim to range, but she uses what she has in the best way possible.

Which seems a bit rude about Sara Doran whose singing is far from bad and certainly no worse than any of the cobblers you hear on the radio these days.

There's an album and few singles in the 1993/4/5 era from the band before they seem to disappear from history with only the occasional nod from anyone in the next 10 or so years.

Whatever and whoever the band were, you'll like this: Blessed Ethel - Fat Star, this is off a white label promo as you'll see in the picture. That's a fiver on the open market to you sir.

And once more there's a Wikipedia page to add to (or there would be if the cocking editors stopped just fucking unilaterally deleting everything. Wankers).