The Crimea

The Crimea, a London-based ensemble, traces its origins to the Crocketts, a band that secured a deal with V2 in the U.K. during 1998 before losing it three years later. Unfazed by that setback, vocalist and guitarist Davey MacManus—already a published author of stories and poems who had also recorded under the alias Kernel Krok—joined forces with drummer Owen Hopkin, a contributor to outlets such as Kerrang and the NME, to launch the Crimea in 2002. After the group later added guitarist Andy Norton, keyboardist Andrew Stafford, and bassist Joseph Udwin, MacManus and Hopkin laid down most of the debut album themselves on an eight-track recorder while holding down day jobs. The band issued three singles independently, and following an appearance at the South by Southwest festival in Texas in 2004—by which point they had earned the endorsement of broadcaster John Peel and shared bills with Travis, Primal Scream, and Ash—they landed a contract with Warner Bros. The resulting album, Tragedy Rocks, appeared in 2005; its lead single, “Lottery Winners on Acid,” entered the U.K. singles chart at number 31 upon its January 2006 release.