China Drum

Emerging from Ovingham-upon-Tyne, England, in 1989, the pop-punk outfit China Drum began its run as a three-piece anchored by guitarist Bill McQueen, bassist Dave McQueen, and drummer/vocalist Adam Lee. Not until 1993 did the group commit its first material to tape, issuing the self-financed single “Simple” in a limited pressing of several hundred copies that quickly disappeared thanks to early airplay from BBC broadcasters John Peel and Steve Lamacq. A string of further singles, together with support tours alongside Green Day, Ash, and Supergrass, earned the band a berth at the 1995 Reading Festival. MCA’s American division subsequently inked the trio and issued the Barrier EP, a collection drawn from earlier releases. Their debut long-player, Goosefair, arrived the following year in 1996. After parting ways with MCA, Beggars Banquet stepped in to release 1998’s Self Made Maniac, on which the band adopted a harder-edged approach. Shortly before that album’s appearance, former Compulsion drummer Jan Alkema joined the lineup, freeing Adam Lee to concentrate solely on frontman duties; around the same time the group abbreviated its name to the Drum.