Rooster

U.K. quartet Rooster drew more from 1970s rock traditions than from blink-182-style power pop, yet the group was routinely—and perhaps unjustly—placed alongside Busted and McFly in the teen-rock bracket. Vocalist Nick Atkinson had earlier led the nu-metal band 50 Grind, which scored a modest chart entry with a contribution to the Pokémon movie soundtrack. Following that act’s dissolution, he reconnected with school-era friend Luke Potashnick; drawing on the influence of Led Zeppelin, Cream, and Guns N’ Roses, the pair began composing material together. They completed the lineup by enlisting drummer Dave Neale, a former touring acquaintance of Potashnick’s, and bassist Ben Smyth, located through an advertisement in the rock press. The band took its name from a horse on which Atkinson had collected £250 in winnings. Rooster became the inaugural signing to Hugh Goldsmith’s Brightside imprint and quickly cultivated a largely teenage female following through their photogenic appearance and multiple festival slots.

The debut single “Come Get Some” climbed to number seven in 2004, and several months later the quartet became the first act ever to transmit a live concert across the 3G mobile-phone network. Early in 2005 the chart success of the follow-up “Staring at the Sun,” which reached number four, propelled the self-titled debut album into the Top Three. Subsequent releases “You’re So Right for Me” (number 14) and “Deep and Meaningless” (number 29) preceded work on a second album. Adopting a noticeably more refined production approach, the band issued the 2006 comeback single “Home,” yet despite considerable radio backing it fell short of the Top 30, prompting postponement of the parent album Circles and Satellites. A further track, “Good to Be Here,” drawn from the Stormbreaker soundtrack, appeared as a download-only release but failed to restore momentum, leaving the album’s launch indefinitely on hold. In 2007 Rooster disclosed their dissolution on MySpace. Thereafter Smyth joined the British soft-rock outfit Chinastyle, while Atkinson pursued a solo career.