Biography
In 1995 Salako took shape in England as an informal bedroom endeavor centered in drummer Luke Barwell’s room, where guitarists David Langdale and James Waudby, Barwell himself, and bassist Stu began capturing songs. The resulting airy, wistful style quickly attracted admirers of global indie pop. By 1997 Barwell had switched to bass guitar, Stu had moved to keyboards, and Thomas Spencer had come aboard on drums. Jeepster Records soon expressed interest; after disappointing studio attempts, the label opted instead to fund a home studio once it recognized the members’ greater skill in that setting.
The twenty-track debut Re-Inventing Punctuation appeared on Jeepster in 1998 and received mixed notices, yet it succeeded in carrying the band’s eccentric, off-kilter aesthetic beyond Hull. The singles The Growing Up in the Night and The Moonlight Radiates a Purple Glow in His World supported the album, and the year closed with a BBC session for John Peel. Musicality followed in 1999; its seventeen songs displayed a broader sonic palette and clearer sonics than the first record, aided by numerous guest contributors. “Look Left” incorporated a two-hundred-voice choir taped at Hull’s Sutton Methodist Church. The Bird and the Bag single arrived the same year to promote the release.
Listener numbers kept rising until Langdale departed in late 1999, immediately after a European tour supporting Pavement. The remaining musicians then issued four EPs across twelve months, each titled for the location and date of its cover photograph. Mappleton Sands 201298, out in October 1999, contained six pieces leaning toward folky psychedelia rather than the breezy indie pop of earlier work. Ventimiglia 120899 appeared in May 2000. Shortly afterward Luke Barwell exited to pursue solo material as Bitmap. Several years of inactivity ended in 2004 when the group resurfaced to unveil The Story of Our Life So Far on Tablature Records that April.
The twenty-track debut Re-Inventing Punctuation appeared on Jeepster in 1998 and received mixed notices, yet it succeeded in carrying the band’s eccentric, off-kilter aesthetic beyond Hull. The singles The Growing Up in the Night and The Moonlight Radiates a Purple Glow in His World supported the album, and the year closed with a BBC session for John Peel. Musicality followed in 1999; its seventeen songs displayed a broader sonic palette and clearer sonics than the first record, aided by numerous guest contributors. “Look Left” incorporated a two-hundred-voice choir taped at Hull’s Sutton Methodist Church. The Bird and the Bag single arrived the same year to promote the release.
Listener numbers kept rising until Langdale departed in late 1999, immediately after a European tour supporting Pavement. The remaining musicians then issued four EPs across twelve months, each titled for the location and date of its cover photograph. Mappleton Sands 201298, out in October 1999, contained six pieces leaning toward folky psychedelia rather than the breezy indie pop of earlier work. Ventimiglia 120899 appeared in May 2000. Shortly afterward Luke Barwell exited to pursue solo material as Bitmap. Several years of inactivity ended in 2004 when the group resurfaced to unveil The Story of Our Life So Far on Tablature Records that April.
Albums
