H2SO4

Songwriting functioned as the essential catalyst allowing H2SO4 to fuse pop, rock, and technology into an output crackling with unfiltered force. The trio assembled in Kent, thirty miles from London, after Graham Cupples, lead keyboardist and programmer, joined Darren Till, another keyboardist and programmer, and James Butler, who supplied vocals and bass, while testing remixes. Cupples then headed the techno projects Mortal and Code; Till also worked with Code; and Butler handled vocals and bass for Lobster, earlier called Sulpher and rooted in straightforward rock. Their merged abilities produced H2SO4, the chemical formula for invention, a compound whose burn registers so gradually it can pass unnoticed. The outcome carved a vigorous yet supple zone between electronica/techno and rock.

H2SO4 channeled this approach into the spring 1998 release of “Little Soul.” Its dense, ominous texture won favor throughout England and, given the small pressing, turned into a collector’s item. “Little Soul,” together with the next two singles “I Need Feel” and “The Way I Want,” supplied the core of the band’s debut album Machine-Turned Blues, issued on the Recon label in June 1999. The record’s strongest track, “Imitation Leather Jacket” (when she left she even took his imitation leather jacket), drew steady support from English DJs while logging more than a thousand U.S. radio spins and claiming the top position on the Gavin Alternative Juke Box Jury.

H2SO4 became a reliable presence at British festivals and at Glastonbury, while also performing live in Chicago and Canada. Throughout 2000 the group tracked its second album, Glamtronica, once more interleaving rock, dance, punk, and indie with ample measures of humor.