Winners Aftershave biography

Back in the pre-Britpop early 90s, the London based Honey Smugglers found themselves rubbing shoulders with those genres which came to be known as baggy and shoegaze, their punchy psychedelic pop with a lyrical edge found itself somewhat at odds with a music scene determined to celebrate itself.

Nevertheless their debut single Listen gained indie classic status , and the follow up EP Closer contained the lilting, summery Good Afternoon, which found itself re-released this year on a Cherry Red compilation Still Dreaming. Their 1990 BBC Session also gets an occasional dusting down from BBC 6 Music.

The original band were all about the songs of frontman Chris Spence, who leads his latest outfit Winners Aftershave, an older, wiser more sophisticated manifestation of the worldview first expressed in the Smugglers.

A quintessential British individuality (dare we say eccentricity) is fully present here, along with a well honed ability to craft memorable, original songs of the highest quality backed by a band who understand. Believing very much in the ethos that an album should be a collection of great songs which stand together as a whole, there is strength in depth here from the glamtastic Spandex Reflex to the intense and paranoid The Darkness and off the rails drama of Hotel Avenir.

Winners Aftershave believe in captivating the listener from start to end. Trust them. They know what they're doing

PLEASED BY THE DESPERATE

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Hi Kids

I had recently received a copy of your Winning Aftershave. After a quick fondle i put it on the other day, and was so pleasantly blown away by the abiding quality of the songs and production.

After 2 good openers the weight of album tracks carry it through with what i perceive as marvellous Magazine/David Bowie/Pink Floydy/Beatley nuances for example.

P. Gabriel

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... "an album that's come from out of the blue but as it's superb, we won't deny ourselves the pleasure...."
(click here for full review)
Bernard Tappaz, DJ Radio Campus Grenoble

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"I bloody love it ....worth every penny to these ears!"

Mark Gwilliam­ Dove

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"Wow. I really liked what I heard. The vibe really jived with me. Best,"

Mike

WBCR Summer Manager

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