Biography
In 2013 the British pair known as Ultimate Painting came together after Jack Cooper’s group Mazes supported James Hoare’s band Veronica Falls on tour. The two guitarists chose to collaborate on music created entirely without digital equipment. Following an exchange of demos and an unsuccessful studio attempt, they set up tape machines inside Hoare’s apartment. Over several months they shaped a style recalling the Velvet Underground alongside classic pop from the 1960s and 1970s, with Hoare handling bass, Cooper on drums, and both musicians singing and playing guitar. Their initial track, titled “Ultimate Painting,” supplied the band’s name and drew inspiration from the early-1960s Drop City arts commune and its large-scale improvised artwork. Trouble in Mind signed the duo in early summer 2014; shortly afterward they played several U.K. dates opening for Parquet Courts, and their self-titled debut appeared in October of that year.
Following worldwide touring that included concerts alongside White Fence, Twerps, and Parquet Courts once more, the pair returned to Hoare’s flat to begin a second album, this time enlisting Mazes drummer Neil Robinson. Trouble in Mind issued the resulting 2015 album Green Lanes, which retained a closely comparable sonic character to the debut. During a subsequent U.S. tour they captured a live performance straight to tape for Third Man Records; the recording surfaced on LP in May 2016, coinciding with another American trek. A third album was tracked once again in Hoare’s flat, this time using the same tape machine employed for Nirvana’s Bleach, with Astral Pattern’s Melissa Rigby sitting in on drums. Trouble in Mind released Dusk in September 2016.
The members soon attempted yet another album but grew discouraged and uncertain about its direction. They abandoned those sessions, allowing Cooper to focus on his solo effort Sandgrown, which Trouble in Mind put out in August 2017. Ultimate Painting eventually completed a fourth album, Up!, slated for release on Bella Union in April 2018. Those plans ended when Cooper announced on the band’s website that the group had split “due to an irreconcilable breakdown” and requested that Bella Union withhold the finished record. The label complied, and the former members turned to separate endeavors.
Following worldwide touring that included concerts alongside White Fence, Twerps, and Parquet Courts once more, the pair returned to Hoare’s flat to begin a second album, this time enlisting Mazes drummer Neil Robinson. Trouble in Mind issued the resulting 2015 album Green Lanes, which retained a closely comparable sonic character to the debut. During a subsequent U.S. tour they captured a live performance straight to tape for Third Man Records; the recording surfaced on LP in May 2016, coinciding with another American trek. A third album was tracked once again in Hoare’s flat, this time using the same tape machine employed for Nirvana’s Bleach, with Astral Pattern’s Melissa Rigby sitting in on drums. Trouble in Mind released Dusk in September 2016.
The members soon attempted yet another album but grew discouraged and uncertain about its direction. They abandoned those sessions, allowing Cooper to focus on his solo effort Sandgrown, which Trouble in Mind put out in August 2017. Ultimate Painting eventually completed a fourth album, Up!, slated for release on Bella Union in April 2018. Those plans ended when Cooper announced on the band’s website that the group had split “due to an irreconcilable breakdown” and requested that Bella Union withhold the finished record. The label complied, and the former members turned to separate endeavors.
Albums
Singles
