Drugstore

Named after director Gus Van Sant’s cult film Drugstore Cowboy, the shadowy and atmospheric British trio Drugstore came together in London during 1993. Fronted by Brazilian-born vocalist and bassist Isabel Monteiro, who had moved to the U.K. in 1990, the band took shape once she joined forces with Los Angeles drummer Mike Chylinski following a series of short-lived vocal projects. Although Monteiro professed disdain for her own haunting, smoky delivery and initially pushed the fledgling unit to audition other singers, the search proved fruitless and she reluctantly assumed the role herself.

What began as a thrash-oriented project gradually slowed into a dreamy aesthetic, fusing the music’s languid psychedelic beauty with surging layers of distortion and white noise. Eschewing the conventional demo route, the group debuted in spring 1993 with the self-released single “Alive” on their Honey imprint. Buoyed by widespread critical praise, they next contributed “Modern Pleasure” to the Rough Trade Singles Club series. With guitarist Daron Robinson now aboard on a permanent basis, Drugstore secured a deal with Go-Discs! and issued the Starcrossed EP early in 1995, followed later that year by their self-titled debut album. Two further albums appeared on Roadrunner—White Magic for Lovers in 1998 and Songs for the Jet Set in 2001—before Anatomy surfaced on Rocketgirl a decade afterward.