Biography
Although their moniker suggests otherwise, French Kissing hail from England rather than France, and their sound channels 1960s surf music, pop/rock, and garage rock through a contemporary garage punk lens instead of evoking teenage make-out sessions—though the tracks could easily suit a soundtrack to a casual round of Spin the Bottle. The quartet of Chris Fenner, Dominic Haley, Sam Pillay, and Jonny Stafford came together in London during March 2009. After an extended stretch devoted to rehearsals, planning, and casual downtime, the group finally began performing live toward the close of that year and soon built a following within the city’s club circuit. As Stafford remarked to an interviewer, "We were like the laziest band in the world, so we took a while to start gigging -- I think we started practicing properly around the summertime." French Kissing’s first appearance on record arrived in January 2010 via the Holy Twist Records anthology Get Wyld!, Vol. One, which spotlighted U.K. acts committed to “real rock & roll.” Their debut single, “Oh Suzanne” b/w “The Lonely Streets of Cairo,” followed on February 8, issued by Sleep All Day Records as a limited vinyl 7” pressing of only 200 copies that rapidly attained collector status and drew widespread praise across the British music publications.
Albums
