Biography
Formed in 2001 under the heavy influence of 1980s electro-pop and New Romantic sounds, the three-piece Matinee Club has endured repeated personnel shifts, multiple renamings, and a chart-manipulation controversy. The project began as the synth duo Dirty Blonde, featuring Nathan Cooper and Chi Tudor-Hart, before expanding in 2003 into the Modern with the addition of vocalist Emma Cooke, guitarist Telee, and drummer Rees Bridges. Telee and Bridges departed shortly afterward—Telee to launch a separate group and Bridges to join Dirty Vegas—prompting the arrival of replacements Robert Johns and Bob Malkowski. Mercury Records signed the act in 2005, leading to sessions with producer Stephen Hague for the debut album and festival appearances at Reading/Leeds and Whitby Gothic. The initial release “Jane Falls Down” peaked at number 35 in the U.K. despite minimal broadcast exposure, while follow-up “Industry” gained steady rotation on music-video channels and seemed poised for a major breakthrough. Sales irregularities, however, caused its removal from the charts after thousands of copies were traced to a single credit card. The ensuing scandal prompted the group’s exit from the label; with Johns and Malkowski also leaving, the remaining members adopted the name Matinee Club for the third time. A 2007 deal with Planet Clique Records yielded the website-exclusive single “Discotheque Francais,” yet within months the band moved to Universal Music via Europa Recordings. When that imprint shut down amid corporate cutbacks, the act returned once more to Planet Clique. The long-delayed debut album Modern Industry finally appeared as a download, followed in 2008 by the U.S. CD The Modern LP on Ninth Wave Records.