One of the most prominent bands on the UK independent scene during the 90s, Elastica's line-up coalesced around Justine Frischmann (b. 16 September 1969, Twickenham, London, England; vocals/guitar), Donna Matthews (b. 2 December 1971, Newport, Wales; bass), Justin Welch (b. 4 December 1972, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England; drums) and Annie Holland (b. 26 August 1965, Brighton, England; guitar). Frischmann is the daughter of a prominent architect (her father built London's Centre Point skyscraper), and she attended a private school in London. Some of Elastica's original notoriety sprang from the fact that Frischmann was in an early incarnation of Suede and was romantically linked with that band's singer, Brett Anderson, then Blur's Damon Albarn. Indeed, one of Elastica's songs, "See That Animal" - the b-side to "Connection" - was co-written with Anderson when both attended University College London. They lived together in a dilapidated north London house while Suede looked for a recording contract. She left in October 1991 just before they were signed by Nude Records.
There was more to Elastica than nepotism, as they demonstrated with a series of stunning singles ("Stutter", "Line Up", "Connection') after they formed as a result of Frischmann placing advertisements in the British music press. Wearing punk and new wave influences as diverse as Adam And The Ants, Blondie and Bow Wow Wow on their sleeves, they nevertheless chose to avoid the New Wave Of The New Wave bandwagon, consolidating their appeal with a place on the bill of 1994"s Reading Festival. Their records were released in the UK by Steve Lamacq's Deceptive label and worldwide by Geffen Records. Elastica's fourth single, "Waking Up", practically a musical rewrite of the Stranglers' "No More Heroes", was, nevertheless, as exciting a single as any to hit the UK charts in early 1995 (the song reached number 13). While the chord sequences could too often be linked directly to particular antecedents - the similarities between the two UK Top 20 singles, "Line Up" and "Connection", and Chairs Missing-era Wire being the best of several examples (and one that resulted in a royalty settlement, as did "Waking Up' with the Stranglers" publishers) - Frischmann's lyrics on Elastica's self-titled debut album, released in March, fitted the post-feminist 90s perfectly. Critics also leaped on veiled references to her past and present paramours: "We were sitting there waiting and I told you my plan, You were far too busy writing lines that didn't scan".
Holland departed in August 1995 to be replaced by Sheila Chipperfield, and Dave Bush (keyboards) became the fifth member. Further changes ensued in 1999, with Matthews leaving and Chipperfield making way for the returning Holland. The line-up was augmented by guitarist Paul Jones (ex-Linoleum) and keyboard player Mew (b. Sharon Mew). A six-track EP of new material was released to mixed reviews at the end of the year. The band's long delayed second album, which by now had assumed almost mythical status, was finally released in April 2000. Ironically, the tracks on The Menace came from a six-week burst of activity the previous December. A collection of Radio 1 archive material, released in November 2001, proved to be a suitably patchy swansong for this erratic band. Frischmann reappeared as a television presenter on the BBC during 2003.
