Following the break-up of Ducks Deluxe, Sean Tyla formed Tyla Gang in late autumn of 1975 with his brother Gary, Phil Nedin (drums) and Peter O'Sullivan (bass) from Welsh band Jack Straw. In the spring of 1976, Richard Treece from Help Yourself joined the band. Within a few months Gary Tyler and Treece left the band and Welshman Tweke Lewis, formerly of
Man, became the new guitarist. They went into Pebble Beach studio in Worthing, and under the guidance of producer Tony Platt recorded 6 tracks including "Suicide jockey" and "Cannons of the Boogie Night" as well as "Styrofoam" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre Boogie". These latter two tracks were released as the "double B-side" 4th single on the legendary
Stiff Records label. Tyla also produced Stiff's eighth single
Plummet Airlines' "Silver Shirt" / "This Is The World". In April 1977, two further tracks from that session were released ("Cannons of the Boogie Night" and "Suicide Jockey") on
Skydog Records. In 1977 the second Tyla Gang band were formed consisting of guitarist Bruce Irvine, bassist Brian Turrington and drummer Mike Desmarais; Turrington and Desmarais having played together in
The Winkies, including during their stint as a backing band for
Brian Eno, and Turrington had also appeared on a number of Eno’s albums as a bassist and co-writing the widely
covered track "
Third Uncle". Although unsigned, the Gang attracted critical attention and played two
Peel Sessions in 1977 (30 May and 4 October). They eventually signed a contract with the California-based
Beserkley label in 1977 and released their first album,
Yachtless in 1978. Reviewing the LP in ''
Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981),
Robert Christgau wrote: "
Punk has not been good for former Duck Deluxe Sean T. because it's meant
urbanization. I have nothing against the slick, hooky
power chords his
pub-rock has evolved into, not in theory. But when his charming if overly mythic tales of fireballs and West Texas
running boards evolve into 'The Young Lords' (give me a break,
Bruce Springsteen) and 'On the Street' (give me a break,
Bob Geldof), I begin to crave recognizable human detail." Part way through recording their next album
Moonproof, Turrington left and Whaley joined to finish the album; this line-up recorded a Peel Session on 9 August 1978. Richard Treece also rejoined but Beserkley's UK operation went bankrupt in 1979, and Tyla disbanded the Gang shortly after. In 2010, the Tyla Gang reformed in their original line-up, touring Sweden during the fall. In 2013, they added
John McCoy of
Gillan and
Mammoth fame to replace original member, Brian Turrington, who had taken a leave of absence for personal reasons. The Gang have released two albums since their reformation, 2010's "Rewired", a compilation of lost studio and live recordings and as of 18 March 2013, a new studio album,
Stereo Tactics. In 2015 The Tyla Gang released a live set,
Live In Stockholm recorded at the Akkurat Bar in Stockholm, Sweden in 2013 on Angel Air Records and will be releasing a 3-CD anthology,
Pool Hall Punks through
Cherry Red Records in May 2016 to coincide with Sean's 70th Birthday Tour. ==Solo career==