Biography
Dinosaur Pile-Up formed as a British alternative rock group fronted by vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Bigland, whose riff-heavy, grunge-leaning approach drew parallels with Nirvana and Foo Fighters. After issuing several modest recordings, they produced two favorably received hard-rock albums: Growing Pains in 2010 and its 2013 successor Nature Nurture. Although onstage lineups shifted across time, Bigland’s decision to perform every instrument on many studio tracks preserved the band’s recorded consistency. By 2014 the configuration had stabilized around ex-Brownies drummer Mike Sheils and Bigland’s longtime friend Jim Cratchley, formerly the bassist in Tribes, who contributed to later releases including the 2019 Parlophone debut Celebrity Mansions.
Bigland established the project in Leeds in 2007 after Mother Vulpine disbanded, emerging from that city’s alternative scene while attracting notice for echoes of earlier U.S. college rock and grunge bands. The group’s playful name originated in a sequence from the 2005 King Kong remake in which Apatosauruses tumble into a heap that Bigland described as a “dinosaur pile-up.” Their breakthrough arrived with the five-track 2009 EP The Most Powerful EP in the Universe!!, whose upfront rock songs placed prominent riffs in both “Opposites Attract” and “Beach Bug.” Reviewers quickly highlighted similarities to Nirvana and Foo Fighters’ alternative rock, and the same-year standalone single “Traynor” stands as a clear instance of the grunge-revival style for which the band became known. Frenzied live shows during this era quickly spread awareness through Leeds’ active music community. Founding bassist Tom Dornford-May and drummer Steve Wilson joined them for a high-profile late-2009 Pixies tour, yet the departure of those two players prompted Bigland’s next step.
Released in October 2010, the debut full-length Growing Pains resulted from Bigland spending two months alone in his Bridlington studio, where he recorded drums, guitars, and vocals with production assistance from local alternative-rock supporter James Kenosha. This approach recalled Dave Grohl’s method on the first Foo Fighters album. The record’s strength resided in its directness, evident on the singles “Mona Lisa” and “My Rock & Roll,” which featured chugging guitars and pop-inflected choruses. After the sessions, drummer Mike Sheils and bassist Harry Johns joined for a full U.K. tour; Sheils and Bigland had connected through mutual appreciation of Weezer’s Blue Album, and this lineup withstood extensive European touring between 2011 and 2013.
Bigland again assumed sole recording duties for the second album, 2013’s Nature Nurture, this time with producers Ian Davenport and Tom Dalgety overseeing sessions that spanned two months at Rockfield Studios in Wales and Courtyard Studios in Oxford. Once the album began elevating their U.S. profile following its early-2014 American release, Cratchley joined on bass, enabling their largest stateside tour to date in support of Long Island’s Brand New ahead of the Japanese edition. By year’s end the band was already signaling the next project through studio photographs taken with Dalgety again producing. After a Japan-only EP, 11:11, Eleven Eleven appeared in limited European and Japanese editions in October 2015 before receiving worldwide distribution nearly a year later. Following years of touring, the group signed with Parlophone and revealed the forthcoming fourth album Celebrity Mansions by issuing the track “Thrash Metal Cassette” in March 2019.
Bigland established the project in Leeds in 2007 after Mother Vulpine disbanded, emerging from that city’s alternative scene while attracting notice for echoes of earlier U.S. college rock and grunge bands. The group’s playful name originated in a sequence from the 2005 King Kong remake in which Apatosauruses tumble into a heap that Bigland described as a “dinosaur pile-up.” Their breakthrough arrived with the five-track 2009 EP The Most Powerful EP in the Universe!!, whose upfront rock songs placed prominent riffs in both “Opposites Attract” and “Beach Bug.” Reviewers quickly highlighted similarities to Nirvana and Foo Fighters’ alternative rock, and the same-year standalone single “Traynor” stands as a clear instance of the grunge-revival style for which the band became known. Frenzied live shows during this era quickly spread awareness through Leeds’ active music community. Founding bassist Tom Dornford-May and drummer Steve Wilson joined them for a high-profile late-2009 Pixies tour, yet the departure of those two players prompted Bigland’s next step.
Released in October 2010, the debut full-length Growing Pains resulted from Bigland spending two months alone in his Bridlington studio, where he recorded drums, guitars, and vocals with production assistance from local alternative-rock supporter James Kenosha. This approach recalled Dave Grohl’s method on the first Foo Fighters album. The record’s strength resided in its directness, evident on the singles “Mona Lisa” and “My Rock & Roll,” which featured chugging guitars and pop-inflected choruses. After the sessions, drummer Mike Sheils and bassist Harry Johns joined for a full U.K. tour; Sheils and Bigland had connected through mutual appreciation of Weezer’s Blue Album, and this lineup withstood extensive European touring between 2011 and 2013.
Bigland again assumed sole recording duties for the second album, 2013’s Nature Nurture, this time with producers Ian Davenport and Tom Dalgety overseeing sessions that spanned two months at Rockfield Studios in Wales and Courtyard Studios in Oxford. Once the album began elevating their U.S. profile following its early-2014 American release, Cratchley joined on bass, enabling their largest stateside tour to date in support of Long Island’s Brand New ahead of the Japanese edition. By year’s end the band was already signaling the next project through studio photographs taken with Dalgety again producing. After a Japan-only EP, 11:11, Eleven Eleven appeared in limited European and Japanese editions in October 2015 before receiving worldwide distribution nearly a year later. Following years of touring, the group signed with Parlophone and revealed the forthcoming fourth album Celebrity Mansions by issuing the track “Thrash Metal Cassette” in March 2019.
Albums
Singles
