Formation The group formed in 1981 amid the peak of the
Postcard Records era of independent music in Glasgow. Brian Taylor, a friend at the time of Postcard's Alan Horne, recruited McRobbie, Hayward, and Simpson for his new band. followed by their tape "Entertaining Edward" that same year on Action Tapes. Prior to their breakout album, the band appeared in a John Peel session, as well as a variety of
zines.
Up for a Bit with the Pastels Their debut album,
Up for a Bit with The Pastels (
Glass, 1987; re-issue
Paperhouse, 1991) moved from garage pop-punk through to ballads with synth orchestra splashes. The album launched to industry praise, with praise from acts including
Jesus and Mary Chain,
Primal Scream,
Sonic Youth,
Yo La Tengo, and
Nirvana's
Kurt Cobain, The Guardian describe the album as integral in helping "to inspire confidence in the Glasgow scene (showing) that bands didn’t have to move south but could let the record industry come to them." and Taylor, Hayward and Simpson all departed. They signed with the then emerging
Domino Records and completed two albums,
Mobile Safari (1995) and
Illumination (1997), with the musical approach of the latter described as "mellowed and evolved into a form of gently psychedelic off-kilter pop, adorned with orchestral instrumentation." In 2000, Wright left the group to focus on her career as an illustrator though she still provides artwork for the group. Their next release was
the soundtrack to David Mackenzie's
The Last Great Wilderness (Geographic, 2003). It featured a track recorded in collaboration with
Pulp's
Jarvis Cocker. In 2006 The Pastels developed and completed new music for a theatre production by Glasgow-based company, 12 Stars. In 2009, The Pastels, in collaboration with
Tenniscoats from Tokyo, Japan, released an album called
Two Sunsets, which critics called "a playful, spontaneous and spellbinding must-hear." The Guardian described the album as "their most complete set since Up for a Bit, with its 10 summery, groovy flute and french-horn-licked songs, trippy in the sense of the kind of trip that lands in a pile of freshly mown grass."
Legacy and influence Despite their contrarian musical approach, the Pastels soon after forming enjoyed an emerging fanzine culture identified with the group's sound and image, and slowly started to influence a new wave of groups, as well as gathering the attention of
NME and other UK media. The band features in the book
Postcards from Scotland detailing the 1980s and 1990s independent music scene in Scotland. The band
Black Tambourine has a love song to Stephen Pastel, "Throw Aggi off the Bridge".
Talulah Gosh have a song called Pastels Badge. During the early 2000s the band continued to receive attention, particularly in Japan where they became "incongruously wrapped up in the hype surrounding
Britpop in Japan, jostling for position in magazines with the likes of
Blur and
Manic Street Preachers." ==Band members==