Uncle Acid and the deadbeats

Uncle Acid and the deadbeats
Uncle Acid and the deadbeats
	; Uncle Acid and the deadbeats.
Background information
Also known as	The Sharon Tate Experience
Origin	Cambridge, England
Genres	Doom Metal, Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Occult Rock
Years active	2009 - present
Labels	Killer Candy Records, Rise Above Records, Metal Blade Records
Associated acts	Groan, Limb, Umbra Vitae, Scorpion Child, Job For A Cowboy, Grave
Website	Official Page

Uncle Acid and the deadbeats (Also stylized as Uncle Acid & the deadbeats or simply Uncle Acid)^[1] are an English rock band, formed in Cambridge, England, by Kevin Starrs. To date the band have released five albums, with 2011's breakthrough album Blood Lust the first of four on English label Rise Above Records. Along with five albums and numerous singles, Uncle Acid have been an extensive touring unit, having performed all over the world with a wide range of musical acts.

The band's music is heavily influenced by the late 1960s when heavy metal was emerging. Allmusic praised the band's ability to recreate a particular aspect of this era, describing the band as "celebrating the Summer of Love's soul-chilling autumn: a blasted landscape, post-flower power, resembling Altamont's killing fields, reeking of the Manson Family murders, and, naturally, sounding like a mish-mash of all of the apocalyptic musical forces that converged upon that era.".^[2] The band has been described as "the original Alice Cooper band jamming in a cell with early Black Sabbath and the Stooges".^[3] In order to replicate the sound of that era, the band uses vintage instruments and recording equipment.^[4]

The band’s name was taken from Rusty Day, the singer of Cactus, who later had a band called Uncle Acid And The Permanent Damage Band.^[5] Uncle Acid was originally the otherwise-anonymous frontman, although he has since changed his stage name to K.R. Starrs and now views the band members collectively as being "Uncle Acid".^[6]

History[]

Formation, Volume 1 and Blood Lust (2009 - 2012)[]

Uncle Acid and the deadbeats would be founded by Kevin Starrs in 2009, initially as a trio with Kat and Red. Sometime after forming the band would record a debut album in Volume 1, self released by the band's own label Killer Candy Records on 13 February 2010. The band would begin to attain buzz, also appearing on a split with Danava the next year on Kemado Records.

Work would quickly begin on a follow-up, recording and mixed at The SlaughterHouse in Cambridgeshire between November 2010 and March 2011. For their first album, Volume I they created approximately 30 CD-R copies of the album and with the money made for those releases, the group put into recording Blood Lust with better recording equipment.^[7]^[8] The album was recorded in a friend of Starrs garage. Starrs mentioned that the band "really did fall apart when we made Blood Lust." At the end of recording, the remaining members were the drummer and Starrs though the drummer would leave in 2011 as well.^[9]^[10]

Blood Lust would initially see release on 27 May 2011 via Killer Candy Records, garnering critical acclaim. Not long after the band would sign with Rise Above Records, whom would re-issue the album that same year on vinyl and then North American distribution via Metal Blade would follow on 20 November 2012.^[11] Starrs would recruit a new rhythm section once the band would get signed.^[12] With the new lineup, the band would begin recording a new studio album at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire that October and November.

Mind Control and The Night Creeper (2013 - 2016)[]

A concept album about "fictional story...about a cult leader who comes down from the mountain and brainwashes his desert disciples through drugs, love, violence, and intimidation" according to Starrs,^[13] Mind Control would see release via Rise Above Records on 15 April 2013 (14 May 2014 in North America)^[14] to critical acclaim.

The band's earliest known shows would be two gigs at The Garage in London on 22 and 23 March, followed by an appearance at Roadburn Festival the next month. Uncle Acid would perform at numerous festivals^[15] and even perform as direct support to Black Sabbath on one of the legs of the band's reunion tour in the Fall of 2013.^[16] Participating in the Soundwave Festival for the band's first tour of Australia, Uncle Acid would extensively tour through Europe to support Mind Control, including the band's first live appearance in the United States, performing at Maryland Deathfest. The band would appear at numerous festivals in 2014, including Copenhell, Jalometalli and Pukkelpop among others.^[17] Finally the band would embark on their first North American tour (Acid Across America) alongside Danava.^[18]

Recording with Liam Watson (The White Stripes, Electric Wizard) at Toe Rag Studios in London and The Overlook in Elstree, a concept album about a serial killer in similar vein to Jack The Ripper.^[19] The Night Creeper would see release on 4 September 2015 to positive reception, with the band touring North America and Europe for three months to support the album.^[20] Further touring would take place through 2016 including appearances at Sweden Rock Fesitval, Roskilde Festival, Resurrection Fest, SonicBlast Moledo and Psycho Las Vegas among other events.^[21]

Wasteland (2017 - Present)[]

Uncle Acid would take time off touring in 2017 to begin work on a new album, while a stand-alone single in "Dead Eyes of London" would be released on 28 September 2017.^[22] Working with Geoff Neal (Nine Inch Nails, Motorhead, etc.), the band would record their fifth studio album through 2018, recording at Sunset Sound (Los Angeles) and The Overlook (Elstree). Details on the album would surface in August,^[23] with singles for "Stranger Tonight"^[24] and "Shockwave City"^[25] being unveiled in September leading up to the album's release.

Wasteland would see release on 12 October 2018 to positive reception, garnering an 83/100 score on Metacritic.^[26] Uncle Acid would tour that Fall through Europe with L.A. Witch to support Wasteland, followed by an extensive world tour through 2019 in further support, performing with the likes of Blood Ceremony, Graveyard and King Diamond among numerous Summer festival appearances. The touring cycle for Wasteland would close with a tour of Australia and New Zealand in the Spring of 2020, right before the CO-VID19 Pandemic would begin. The band would be intended to tour Europe and North America, including an appearance at Bonnaroo (Which would be re-scheduled for the Fall of 2021).

Discography[]

Studio Albums[]

Volume 1 (2010, Killer Candy Records)
Blood Lust (2011, Killer Candy Records; Rise Above Records)
Mind Control (2013, Rise Above Records)
The Night Creeper (2015, Rise Above Records)
Wasteland (2018, Rise Above Records)

Singles[]

"Poison Apple" (2013, Rise Above Records)
"Mind Crawler" (2013, Rise Above Records)
"Runaway Girls" (2014, Rise Above Records)
"Waiting For Blood (2015, Rise Above Records)
"Melody Lane" (2015, Rise Above Records)
"Pusher Man" (2016, Rise Above Records)
"Dead Eyes of London" (2017, Rise Above Records)
"Stranger Tonight" (2018, Rise Above Records)
"Shockwave City" (2018, Rise Above Records)

Splits[]

White Nights of Murder / I'll Cut You Down (With Danava) (2013, Kemado)
Christmas Killer / Blow Up The XMas Tree' (As The Sharon Tate Experience; With Sir Admiral Cloudsley Shovell) (2013, Rise Above Records)

Compilation Appearances[]

"Down to the Fire" - Track 2 on Something In The Water - A Rise Above Compilation (2013)

Members[]

Current Lineup[]

Kevin Starrs aka Uncle Acid - Guitar, Organ, Vocals (2009 - Present)
Vaughn Stokes - Guitar, Bass, Backing Vocals (2015 - Present)
Jon Rice - Drums (2017 - Present)
Justin Smith - Bass (2018 - Present)

Past Members[]

Kat - Bass (2009 - 2011)
Red - Drums (2009 - 2011)
Dean Millar - Bass, Backing Vocals (2012 - 2015)
Thomas Mowforth - Drums (2012 - 2013)
Yotam Rubinger - Guitar, Backing Vocals (2012 - 2016)
Itamar Rubinger - Drums (2013 - 2016)

List of Known Tours[]

Summer 2013 Shows (2013)^[27]
Black Sabbath Reunion Tour (Fall European Leg) (With Black Sabbath) (2013)^[28]^[29]
Soundwave Festival (2014)^[30]
Spring 2014 European Tour (Select dates with Yama, Black Moth) (2014)^[31]^[32]
2014 Japan Tour (Canceled) (2014)^[33]
Spring 2014 UK Tour (With Black Moth, Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovell) (2014)^[34]
Acid Across America (With Danava) (2014)^[35]^[36]
The Night Creeper North American Tour (With Ecstatic Vision, Ruby The Hatchet) (2015)^[37]
The Night Creeper European Tour (With Spiders) (2015)^[38]^[39]
Spring 2016 European Tour (2016)^[40]
Summer 2016 North American Tour (With Danava, The Shrine) (2016)^[41]
Fall 2016 European Tour (With Scorpion Child) (2016)^[42]
Wasteland Tour (With L.A. Witch) (2018)^[43]
Wasteland UK Tour (With Blood Ceremony) (2019)^[44]
Peace Across The Wasteland (With Graveyard; Select dates with Twin Temple, Demob Happy) (2019)^[45]
Wasteland European Tour (2019)^[46]
The Institute North American Tour (With King Diamond, Idle Hands) (2019)^[47]
2020 Australia / New Zealand Tour (2020)^[48]

External Links[]

References[]

[1] Discogs

[2] AllMusic

[3] Metal Blade Records

[4] The Quietus

[5] Terrorizer

[6] Sea of Tranquility

[7] VICE

[8] Rise Above Records Official

[9] VICE

[10] Rise Above Records Official

[11] Metal Blade Records Official

[12] Rise Above Records Official

[13] Blabbermouth

[14] Blabbermouth

[15] st.fm

[16] Blabbermouth

[17] Last.fm

[18] Last.fm

[19] Consequence of Sound

[20] Last.fm

[21] Last.fm

[22] Encyclopaedia Metallum

[23] Blabbermouth

[24] Blabbermouth

[25] Blabbermouth

[26] Metacritic

[27] Last.fm

[28] Last.fm

[29] Blabbermouth

[30] Last.fm

[31] Last.fm

[32] st.fm

[33] Last.fm

[34] Last.fm

[35] Last.fm

[36] st.fm

[37] Lambgoat

[38] Last.fm

[39] Last.fm

[40] Last.fm

[41] Last.fm

[42] Last.fm

[43] Last.fm

[44] Last.fm

[45] Blabbermouth

[46] Last.fm

[47] Lambgoat

[48] Last.fm

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42]

[43]

[44]

[45]

[46]

[47]

[48]