Lo Fidelity Allstars

A six-piece ensemble steeped in big-beat, Lo Fidelity Allstars brought a stronger rock'n'roll edge to Skint Records than most of their labelmates. Their sound fused rumbling dub basslines with organ riffs drawn from soul records during the breakdowns, while projecting a care-free spirit that echoed the Madchester era defined by Happy Mondays and Stone Roses. The band took shape in mid-1996 when Leeds-born turntable specialist Albino Priest, then employed at the Tower Records store in London's Piccadilly Circus, teamed with vocalist Wrekked Train. Additional players joined throughout that year, each adopting deliberately outlandish stage names: keyboardist Sheriff Jon Stone, bassist A One Man Crowd Called Gentile, engineer the Many Tentacles, and drummer the Slammer.

After laying down initial tracks, the group forwarded a demo to Skint founder Damian Harris, who attended one of their shows and offered a contract. Their opening three singles on the label—"Kool Roc Bass," "Disco Machine Gun," and "Vision Incision"—surfaced in 1997, coinciding with the height of England's big-beat surge fueled by recent work from Fatboy Slim and Bentley Rhythm Ace. The debut full-length, How to Operate with a Blown Mind, arrived the following year. By late 1998 Wrekked Train had departed amid artistic differences, leaving Albino Priest to assume the role of nominal frontman. The mix collection On the Floor at the Boutique appeared in 2000, and the band's second studio album, Don't Be Afraid of Love, emerged in early 2002.