Formed at the tail end of '96 from the ashes of The Lyds, The Embrooks are the hottest freakbeat trio the UK has to offer!! Since their inception a little under 12 (!!) years ago, the band have gone from strength to strength, discarding their initial "moody teen punk" approach in favour of something a touch more NOW and HAPPENING, drawing on influences ranging from The Who and The Creation through to The Byrds and Mike Stuart Span (to name but a few). The line-up remains unchanged since the start, consisting of: Mole (ex-The Mystreated/Stewed) on bass/vocals, Dr. Alessandro Cozzi Lepri (ex-Head & The Hares) on guitar/vocals, and Miss Lois Tozer (ex-Hellcats UK/Dirty Burds) on drums.
The band's output so far consists of 4 45s and 2 LPs: the first 45, 'But I Didn't Know Him'/'Fight Fire' on Dig The Fuzz, was a limited press
(now sold out), while the second, a 4 track EP simply titled 'The Embrooks', was put out in late summer '98 by Sympathy For The Record Industry (but was recorded way back in Dec. '96, just one month after the formation of the band). The aforementioned debut long player, titled 'Separations', was released April '99 on Dig The Fuzz (and recorded, like the 2 45s, on 4-track at the famed Terrace Studios). This monstrous 12 incher was re-released in October 2000 by Dionysus, in a remixed format for the US market. September '99 saw a new single, 'More Than Ever'/'You Can Be My Baby', released by Guerssen Records in Spain (originally scheduled for Dig The Fuzz), and, in January 2000, a 3-track EP for Swiss label Max Picou, 'If You Let Me Go' (recorded at the same Toe Rag session as the Spanish single, in March '99). July 2000 has seen the release of the 2nd LP, 'Our New Day', on Bomp subsidiary Voxx (also the band's first venture into CD, along with the Dionysus album), whilst in November, the band made their first sampler appearance, on fledgling label Trepanner Headmusic's debut release, a 5-track 10" EP entitled 'Open Up Your Head', which features Bangtwister, Gorilla, Moniack and Greathead Briggs, alongside The Embrooks tearing through The Yardbirds' '68 B-side, 'Think About It'.
On the live front, the band spent much of '98 (and some of '97) making inroads into Europe, with 2 short tours in Germany as well as one-offs in Italy (at the legendary Festival Beat) and Spain. Various UK dates were also undertaken, mostly in the north of England (Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham etc.), with a few London dates thrown in, including the Wild Weekend in October '98, in front of an enthusiastic crowd at The Red Eye pub. The second half of '99 saw a marked increase in live shows, with 5 appearances through July, in London (Garage), Belgium (twice!), Leicester and Nottingham (at the famed Fuzz Fest), 3 in August - London again (Hope & Anchor), Maidstone, plus an afternoon slot at the New Untouchables Mod Rally on the Isle of Wight, then September saw a return to the Garage in London, followed by a short tour in France and Spain, taking in Nantes, Lleida, Gijon, Burgos, Madrid and Leon (at the Purple Weekend International Mod Festival).
October/November '99 saw the band take what could be its' most important step so far: America!!! After being penciled in at the last minute to open the Sunday night show at the Las Vegas Grind (provoking rave reviews and being one of the best received acts there), 3 dates in California followed - San Diego (3rd Nov), LA (4th) and San Francisco (5th), confirming what those in Las Vegas already suspected, that the band were a force to be reckoned with! Picking up label interest along the way from Dionysus and Bomp, this has been The Embrooks' most successful venture to date!
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