Rewind: Lo Fidelity Allstars - Pony Pressure

An excellent B side, released 20 years ago in November 1998. Earlier that year, the Lo Fidelity Allstars released their superb and underrated debut album 'How To Operate With A Blown Mind', a genre-fusing masterpiece that has become a cult classic. With a sound that fused hip hop, soul, alt-rock, techno, funk and house music, their sample-heavy electronic constructions were dubbed "skunk rock" by the members of the band, originally formed in Leeds before relocating to London and then moving to big beat capital Brighton. 

A feast of analogue keys, vintage drum machines and strange, hallucinogenic flavours, 'Pony Pressure' was included as an extra track on the 'Battleflag' single. The lead track and this B side turned out to be last recordings to feature vocalist and punk poet The Wrekked Train (aka Dave Randall), who quit the band due to alleged disagreements over musical direction. Keyboardist Sheriff Jon Stone (real name Matt Harvey) also departed from the group, who would revert to a tidier, somewhat less edgy sound for their future releases. 

In 1999 they were the best-selling British band in America, shifting over 400,000 albums.

They returned in 2000 with the 'Ghostmutt' EP, followed by the more commercial-sounding 2002 album 'Don't Be Afraid Of Love'. After a change of record label, they were back in 2009, releasing their third LP 'Northern Stomp'. There hasn't been any new material since 2015's 'Fire Reigns' single and the 2016 track 'Darkness Rolling'. Nothing much has been heard of The Wrekked Train, apart from an appearance on 'The Snow Falls' from The Baldwin Brothers' 2006 album 'The Return of the Golden Rhodes', and a vocal contribution to 'Rest Easy' from Half's 2016 debut 'Here Lies'. Founder member Phil Ward also releases music as Lord Warddd, as well as occasionally playing DJ sets under the Lo Fidelity Allstars name. The group's drummer Johnny Machin sadly passed away earlier this year.