Biography

Noisier and more aggressive than most of their Sarah Records contemporaries, U.K. indie pop band Boyracer became known as one of the most prolific bands of their day. Centered around the restless and often jittery songwriting of bandleader Stewart Anderson, the band charged through its most active times in the '90s and then receded into a state of semi-dormancy in the late 2000s. Shifting lineups almost as frequently as they released new music, their discography would grow to include hundreds of songs released on a wide range of indie labels like Slumberland and Happy Happy Birthday to Me, as well as a brief dalliance with major labels when MCA offshoot Zero Hour Records released their 1996 full-length, In Full Colour. Years of touring put strain on the various iterations of the band, but Anderson remained tirelessly active, focused on Boyracer throughout the '90s and into the 2000s. Songs and albums came less frequently but strong records like 2004's Happenstance still surfaced every so often. In 2020, the band returned from a 12-year hiatus with their 13th studio full-length, On a Promise, and wasted no time returning the next year with their 14th album Assuaged. Boyracer formed in Wetherby, England, a suburb of Leeds, in 1990, taking their name from the teenage boys who dragged the town's main street on summer nights. The first lineup was Anderson on guitar and vocals, Richard Adams on guitar and keyboards, Simon on bass, and James on drums (like many British indie bands of the era, Boyracer adopted the habit of listing their members by first-name only on all releases and promo materials, and some members' last names remain mysteries), a lineup that only lasted long enough to record one single, "Railway" b/w "Reverse," released in April 1992, and half of a split single with the Louisville, Kentucky group Hula Hoop that July. Adams left the band to concentrate on his own electronica-oriented project, Hood, just before the release of the shoegazey three-track Naked EP in February 1993. The new three-piece lineup signed with Sarah Records that spring and released the quickly recorded B Is for Boyracer EP in May. The songs started becoming shorter and punkier at this point, as shown both on the Sarah EP and on a 10" mini-album recorded with Hula Hoop entitled Louisville/Leeds TKO, released on A Turntable Friend in July 1993. Capping a seriously prolific year, the five-track From Purity to Purgatory EP, their second Sarah release, arrived in October. James and Simon left the band acrimoniously in February 1994, and Anderson recruited Matty Green on guitar and ex-Hood Nicola Hodgkinson on bass, along with a drummer named Kevin. This lineup recorded Boyracer's first full-length album, More Songs About Frustration and Self-Hate, which came out in May 1994, and that summer's Best Flipstar EP before Kevin was booted from the group. His replacement, Ged Megurn, joined after the recording of Boyracer's third and final Sarah EP, Pure Hatred 96, on which Anderson doubled on drums. Following the band's first U.S. tour, their second album, We Are Made of the Same Wood, came out in early 1995. Upping the noise quotient even further, Boyracer recorded the exceedingly lo-fi Pain, Plunder and Personal Loss, live on a four-track in their communal home. Boyracer went up a level in commercial visibility in 1995 when they signed to the New York-based Zero Hour label. A curious little 5" vinyl single, "West Riding House," came out later that year, followed in early 1996 by their third full-length album, In Full Colour. The record sold poorly and Zero Hour unceremoniously dumped the band in the middle of an extensive U.S. tour. By this time, however, Boyracer were firm favorites on the U.S. indie scene, and the group released a staggering half-dozen singles on six different American indies before 1996 was through. However, the bandmembers seemed to tire of both the grind and each other, and they split upon the release of the "Present Tense" single in early 1997. In late 2000, Anderson formed a new edition of Boyracer. Retaining Green on second guitar and adding bassist Jen Turrell (from Rabbit in Red) and drummer Frank (from the Bright Lights), the new lineup toured the U.S. in support of Boyfuckingracer, a 33-track compilation of new songs and favorites from the 1991 to the 1997 singles, EPs, and albums. Turrell and Anderson would be married in 2001 and eventually relocated to Flagstaff, Arizona as the decade saw a slowdown in the band's touring, but not in their prolific recorded output. Along with the regular smattering of one-off 7"s and compilation releases, the band offered up full-lengths throughout the 2000s such as 2002's To Get a Better Hold You've Got to Loosen Your Grip, 2004's Happenstance, 2008's Sunlight Is the Best Antiseptic, and others. The band slowed down in the late 2000s, but Anderson stayed busy during Boyracer's unofficial hiatus, working on side projects like Hulaboy and Cheap Red or dropping in as a guest performer with friends like Gold-Bears. In 2010 they took part in Slumberland Records' 20th anniversary celebration and remained largely inactive until the 2018 compilation release Fling Yr Bonnet Over the Windmill. This album collected three of the band's early Sarah Records EPs, and a U.K. tour for July of that year was booked to promote the release. In 2020, Boyracer released their 13th full-length studio set On a Promise. It was the band's first album of completely new material in 12 years and prominently featured new member Christina Riley as well as guest appearances from members of Ocean Party, Even as We Speak, and the Cannanes. The following year the band returned with their 14th full-length Assuaged, again fueled by Anderson's concise and emotionally direct songwriting and complemented by contributions from Riley and Boyracer alumni Matty Green. ~ Stewart Mason & Fred Thomas, Rovi