The band formed after Gary Briggs moved to Cornwall and met Nathan Wason in a record shop in
Penzance in 1996. After recruiting drummer Tom Lewis and London-born Iwan Gronow, the band moved to
Manchester in 1999 after being discovered by the former
Smiths manager Joe Moss, who set them up with a regular slot at
The Night and Day Café. Through Moss's Smiths connections they also played support slots for
Johnny Marr's band the Healers, and others including
Badly Drawn Boy. Gary Briggs and Nat Wason formed the short lived band the Strays. Briggs was also recruited as the lead singer for the
Peter Hook/
Mani project
Freebass before going on to work on courses run for musicians. Wason was the guitarist in
Peter Hook & the Light from 2010 to 2013 and is currently a member of A Blaze Of Feathers with singer-songwriter
Ben Howard, having toured as part of his backing band for several years. In 2012, a comprehensive biography of the band was published by Matador Books. In 2021, it was announced that the band would reform for a one-off gig at Night & Day in Manchester on 2 July 2021. After the gig was forced to be postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions, they then announced two gigs at the same venue for December 2021, with profits going to the
Christie Hospital. They also released the song
All I Ever Knew, which was originally set to be released as a single before the split up. The reformation came about as frontman Gary Briggs and drummer Jack Mitchell found themselves living near each other in Stockport, with Briggs stating the pair then "got in touch with the rest of the band and took things from there. I think like many people over the past year, we’ve found old connections reforming – you find the people that matter again when you’re forced to be so far apart. Reforming for the gigs just feels like the right thing to do and it’s been nice spending time with the guys again". ==Band members==