Grand National

As Grand National, Rupert Lyddon and Lawrence Rudd fuse the electro-pop sensibilities of New Order and Depeche Mode with sweet harmonies and laid-back grooves. The pair first crossed paths inside a London-based Police tribute band. Lyddon later formed a friendship with Primal Scream, who granted the duo complimentary studio hours; whenever the hosts were not tracking their own XTRMNTR album, Lyddon and Lawrence Rudd used the time to lay down their material and establish the Grand National project. Their first release arrived in 2003 as the aptly titled EP1, whose standout cut “Playing in the Distance” earned NME Single of the Week honors. One year later the full-length Kicking the National Habit appeared and drew favorable notices that evoked Duran Duran, Talk Talk, and A.R. Kane. The duo soon received remix commissions from Snow Patrol and Client while seeing their own tracks reworked by Sasha and the Glimmers. A 2006 U.S. reissue of the debut album incorporated those Sasha and Glimmers versions, which later surfaced on the 2007 anthology B-Sides, Remixes & Rarities. Also in 2007 the group issued its second album, A Drink and a Quick Decision, initially as a digital download and subsequently as a physical CD augmented with bonus tracks.