Bronco Bullfrog

The Leicester and London-based trio Bronco Bullfrog formed when Andy Morten (drums, vocal), Mike Poulson (vocal, guitar), and Louis Wiggett (bass, vocal) joined forces following stints in assorted neo-'60s beat/psych groups. Their shared tastes encompassed familiar power pop touchstones such as Big Star, Raspberries, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Who, and the Hollies, along with an increasing appreciation for Southern California canyon rock acts including the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, all of which they merged within a single band. The name Bronco Bullfrog was drawn from a little-known, hard-edged late-'60s British film featuring actor Sam Shepard in the lead. Between September 1996 and February 1998 the group laid down tracks at Y Studios in Leicester; those sessions later surfaced as the self-titled debut album on the U.K.-based Twist Records in 1998. Twist followed with the 2000 release seventhirtyeight. After that album appeared, Madrid, Spain-based Mushroom Pillow Records reissued the original debut on October 1, 2000, while also issuing The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker the preceding February, an album captured by Liam Watson at London's Toe Rag Studios.