In October 1991 Rig released their final single on Dead dead Good records against a changing musical backdrop. Manchester's attempt for world domination via the medium of funky tunes and funky flares was faltering and the tidal wave of grunge was about to sweep away everything in it's path. It was time for a reset and for the first six months of 1992 the band decamped to a small recording studio in a suburban Chorlton cellar and set about writing and recording new material.
Flatback 4 1993
The batch of new songs showed the band were heading in a different direction. The band were also keen to lose the Manchester association and saw the only way to do that was by dropping the name 'Rig'. So new songs and a new name, 'Flatback 4'.
This new incarnation of the band tentatively emerged for a handful of gigs at the backend of 1992, but the band were still struggling to find an identity and the shows were not well received. The new songs and the faltering live performances, in particular a shocker at a Dead Dead Good night at the Manchester Boardwalk saw the band part company with their record label.
Flatback 4 on stage at Surrey University. 25th October 1992
Darren, Jonathan, Adam and Carl retreated back to the rehearsal room, nursing their wounds. Label-less, the band were down but not out. They had just signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell and with new manager Joolz McLarnon on board they set about concentrating their efforts on honing a new sound and a new vision.
Flatback 4, rehearsal room Northwich 1993
That vision was to take the form of a short film, comprising of three Flatback 4 songs 'Room Service', 'HandShaker', and 'Miss Piggy. It was shot in Llandudno, Miami, Didbsury and Northwhich under the stewardship of Caleb Ranson. The band's peculiar outlook and humour, previously their own undoing on occasions, was encapsulated to fine effect in the 15 minute short. The songs and their dark undertones are underpinned by a band once again full of confidence. The film was debuted on MTV's 120 minutes, raising the band's profile.
Although they only ventured out for a few gigs at the end of 1993 it was quite apparent their previous live malaise had also been addressed and they were once again enjoying noisy, enthusiastic shows. The songs below were recorded at the Witchwood in Ashton on 5th October 1993 and are rare versions of two songs left over from the period of the shift from Rig to Flatback 4. 'This Morning' is a lament to a TV presenter, whilst 'Thundapants' is a dark quest to own some crazy threads.
Gig listing from City Life, December 1993
In late 1993, buoyed by the response to the Flatback 4 movie, the band were back in Suite 16 Recording Studios in Rochdale, this time with John Robb in the producers chair. They recorded five tracks, 'Hand Shaker','Room Service', 'Miss Piggy' 'SFU' and 'Prairie Dog', three of which would eventually make it onto 7" vinyl. In February 1994 the band released the self-financed Syringe EP on their own Purely for Pleasure label and here it is in it's entirety for the first time, including the tracks not on the original single.
Single review and gig listing from City Life, February 1994
By now the band were forging their own identity and starting to get noticed by the people they cared about, one being John Peel. The Manchester music press was also impressed enough to give the four piece another shot at the bigtime and gave them a full page spread in the Evening News.
Manchester Evening News article, 11th March 1994
The momentum was building again and on 17th May 1994 the band were invited to BBC Maida Vale studios to record their first Peel session, something that they had never done in their previous incarnation as Rig. The five songs were recorded in Maida Vale Studio 4, produced by Mike Robinson and engineered by Rupert Flint, both of whom stepped up when the band's van was clamped and towed away outside. God bless you fellas.
BBC Maida Vale Studios pass, 17th May 1994
Performing for a legendary Peel session was something all of the band were (and still are) hugely proud of. The session comprised of the tracks 'I Would', 'Oven Love', 'SFU', 'Ermiget' and 'Love Potion' and was broadcast by Mr Peel on Radio One on 2nd July 1994.
The recording is bursting with enthusiasm, the band's evident excitement at being on hallowed ground is tangible across the whole session, and probably captures the best versions of all five songs put to tape. Here is that session in full from the BBC archives.
Flatback 4, BBC Maida Vale Studios 17th May 1994
Hot on the heels of the Peel session came a joint single release with Northwich band the Thrush Puppies, of which Joolz McLarnon (manger of Flatback 4) was the lead singer. Making their debut on vinyl were versions of two songs from the recent Peel session 'Oven Love' and 'Ermiget'.
Melody Maker, 1st October 1994
The Stand or Squat joint EP was released on 15th August on the Abstract Sounds label and was supported by a joint tour with the Puppies, which was the longest the four lads had ever undertaken. The eleven date tour kicked off at the Oldham Shack making it as far north as the Broken Doll in Newcastle and included a return to the Falcon in London.
Stand or Squat tour advert, 1994
In what was to turn out to be a final swansong, Flatback 4 contributed two new tracks 'Semi-normal' and 'Dry Socket' to a compilation album put together by Abstract Records. The album was called Amplified and showcased a handful of bands with loose ties to Northwich such as the Thrush Puppies, Done Lying Down. and State of Kate.
The two tracks 'Dry Socket' and 'Semi-normal' segued into one another and were the band signing out with a confident flurry of quiet - loud blasts of Mancunian attitude, choc full of killer riffs and off the wall lyrics.
Despite an encouraging year, there was a dawning realisation that the future may hold something different for the four of Flatback 4. Two days before Christmas in 1994 things finally came to a head on a trip to a gig at the Magazine in Leicester. The van was so cold the band insisted stopping to buy a bottle of whisky to warm their cockles. After the show little was said but they all knew this had been the final gig for the four of them. Some of the band had been playing live together for seven years by this time, and it was time to try something new.
Melody Maker. 9th April 1994
Looking back with fondness thirty years later, only four people shared that experience of travelling the up and down the country in a transit van, recording through the night in studios, the excitement of listening back to the first mix. The in-jokes, the tantrums, the hysterics in the van that would last for hours. That unspoken bond of shared highs and lows, good gigs and bad gigs, scrapes and arrests. Famously the Beatles said only the Beatles knew what it was like to be a Beatle. And that was the same with Rig and Flatback 4, without the songs, the money or fame.
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