Sarandon

Songwriter and graphic designer Simon Williams, known as Crayola, founded Sarandon in 2003. The London trio merges post-punk composition with erratic playing and eccentric verses. Its approach mirrors Crayola’s main inspirations, among them the Wolfhounds and bIG fLAME—whose singer Alan Brown became the band’s bassist in 2007—as well as June Brides, Wire, and Status Quo. Sarandon’s debut arrived in September 2004 with the seven-track 7-inch The Miniest Album. Over the following three years the group issued three further records, the wide-ranging anthology The Completist’s Library, and the three-song EP Joe’s Record. Now featuring Alan Brown alongside drummer Tom Greenhalgh, Sarandon delivered its first full-length album, Kill Twee Pop!, in 2008. The record earned favorable notices, and the band’s profile rose again in 2009 when former Membranes vocalist John Robb discussed the trio in his book Death to Trad Rock. After issuing a split 7-inch to mark the book’s publication, Sarandon began work on its conceptual second album, Sarandon’s Age of Reason, which surfaced in early 2011.