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Indie rock band founded in Hull, North Humberside, England, by Loz Hardy (b. Lawrence Paul Hardy, 14 September 1970, Manchester, Lancashire, England; vocals, guitar) with Myles Howell (b. 23 January 1971, Rugby, Warwickshire, England; bass) and John Andrew (b. John Ricardo Andrew, 27 May 1963, Hull, North Humberside, England; drums).
The group was formed by Hardy and Howell during their year off after school, eventually recruiting the significantly older Andrew, an ex-travelling puppeteer, to complete the unit. The band made their debut with The Celebrated Working Man EP, after which they signed to Chrysalis Records for a second EP, Idiots At The Wheel. They were immediately courted by the press, who invented a niche category for the group: New Cool Rock. At one time tipped by many as a potential next big thing, Kingmaker rapidly fell out of favour with the fashionable climate of their genre. Paul Heaton of local stars the Beautiful Southwent so far as to accuse them of being middle-class pretenders, living in castles on the outskirts of Hull. Nevertheless, Hardy's songwriting prowess seems to have grown in inverse proportion to their stature. The songs on 1992's Sleepwalking, primarily located in Hardy's bitter world view, far surpassed anything on the debut album and the early singles that won them most attention. Tucked away on the b-side to the BRIT Awards-baiting 'Armchair Anarchist', 'Everything's Changed Since You've Been To London' and 'Kissing Under Anaesthetic' stood head and shoulders above many of their peers. The band's lyrical austerity, much ridiculed by some critics, was matched by strong musical craft (particularly Andrew's forceful, accomplished drumming) and an emotive resonance not confined to the young audience the band seemed to attract. In The Best Possible Taste emerged, in 1995, within one month of the death of disc jockey Kenny Everett, who had popularized the phrase, adding an unconscious irony to its use. Tracks such as 'One False Move' revealed a shift towards urban rockabilly. which never really took off with the indie kids/press. However `in the best possible taste` is by far the most complete album and show`s that the band quit too soon.
