Electric Soft Parade

The Electric Soft Parade are a Brighton-based indie pop band whose sound revolves around the musical hijinks of brothers Alex and Tom White, the band's musical masterminds. The White brothers grew up in England listening to the classical music their father, a multi-instrumentalist, played for them -- as well as heavy doses of the Beatles, one of the elder White's favorite groups. The boys were started on music lessons at a young age, and mastered a variety of instruments before forming the Fixed Ascent while in their early teens. Eventually, the duo added a couple more players and became the Feltro Media, before renaming themselves the Soft Parade. The foursome signed to db Records in early 2001 and released a handful of singles. It didn't take long until the siblings' eclectic music started to get noticed, and with that bit of notoriety came a Cease and Desist order from a Doors tribute band in America, who had already commandeered the name. With a nod to the Electric Prunes, the brothers rechristened themselves as the Electric Soft Parade and began playing and writing in earnest. Holes in the Wall was released in 2002, and was immediately hailed for its noisy charm. Comparisons to Teenage Fanclub, the Boo Radleys and Brian Wilson followed, as did a Mercury Prize nomination. The boys came home without the statue, but they did manage to nab a major label signing. Named for an amusement park in the British Midlands, American Adventure was released in 2003. The album cemented the band's reputation for creating an engaging cacophony of sound. Tours with Ash, the Who and Oasis kept the band busy for the better part of 2004 and before you could say, "frequent flyer," it was time for the Electric Soft Parade to go back into the studio. The resulting five-song EP, The Human Body, was released in late 2005.