The Earlies

Part English, part American, this quartet's style of music is as difficult to categorise as their origin. The band was originally formed in the early years of the new millennium with the four members, Giles Hatton (b. Manchester, England), Christian Madden (b. Burnley, Lancashire, England; keyboards), John Mark Lapham (b. Abilene, Texas, USA; vocals), and Brandon Carr (b. Dallas, Texas, USA; vocals), all acknowledging a shared love of the Beach Boys, the Beatles and the Byrds. The quartet composed songs by swapping ideas via e-mail and had not even met each other when they made their recording debut in 2001 with the limited edition 7-inch single, "Song For #3". This beautiful, piano-led track was followed by another vinyl single "25 Easy Pieces', by which time interest in the Earlies was growing apace. 2003"s "The First Sound Of The Earlies" featured the glorious, harmony-laden "Morning Wonder'. The single was followed in December by the Earlies" first release for the London, England-based Names label, the 10-inch EP4. The four tracks on the EP, "Wayward Song", "Slow Man's Dream", "Bring It Back Again" and "Sunday Morning", were the quartet's most musically adventurous to date, combining samples and electronic flourishes with layers of strings, keyboards and woodwind in a manner reminiscent of fellow psychedelic indie rock travellers Mercury Rev. The 10-inch The Devil's Country EP marked a move into country-laced psychedelia on the title track, and preceded the release of their album debut These Were The Earlies. Released in summer 2004, this set compiled most of the material from the vinyl releases and added a couple of new tracks.