Powder: Still Born

I first came across Powder late in 1995. A friend of mine, Heather, had sent me a mix tape of up and coming Brit bands, including the likes of Mansun, The Bluetones and Heavy Stereo. After a couple of listens of the tape the track that stood out was "Deep Fried" by some band called Powder. I set out to find more about this mysterious new band.

I tracked down two of their singles Afrodisiac and the Deep Fried whilst on holiday in Adelaide, of all places!. The singles and their b-sides are short, sharp, powerful pop tunes confirming that Powder not only had the look, the attitude, the sex appeal but most importantly the sound.

Powder formed after meeting in the toilets of a club in Brixton in June 1994, playing their first gigs that summer, cutting their teeth in legendary London back-room venues like the Splash Club, Dublin Castle and Chalk Farm's Monarch. At these early shows they not only attracted usual hordes of A&R men but also their share of celebrities like the Beastie Boys, Eric from Hole (with Drew Barrymore) and Robbie from Take That.

Mark Thomas (guitar/vocals) was the creative heart of Powder writing the majority of their material, but it was Pearl Lowe's vocals that established their unique sound. Powder had been compared to Blondie, Hole, Elastica and even the John Spencer Blues Explosion. Though similarities exist with the above bands Powder have developed their own distinctive sound with plenty of attitude, snarly female vocals and fast paced guitars.

In December 1994 new indie label Parkway made Powder their first signing. With Parkway's office situated in Camden Powder soon became labelled Camden scenesters, much to the disdain of lead singer Pearl Lowe who noted - "People think we're all matey with the Camden bands and there have been a couple of digs in other bands' press features. But I think we'll prove them wrong. We don't come from Camden originally, anyway!"

Powder's first single, '20th Century Gods', a Select Single Of The Month, sold out of it's pressing of 1,500 within two days. '20th Century Gods' was followed by 'Afrodisiac' in June 1995 and 'Deep Fried' in November 1995.

On tour with Elastica, Powder established their lad credentials, getting arrested in Paris for fighting in the toilets of a strip club. Powder's debut album was scheduled for release mid 1996. However, recent reports have it that Powder has split.

Rumours abound as to the reasons for the split. Was it Pearl's pregnancy with Danny Supergrass' baby or was it because Pearl had become disillusioned with her lack of creative input with the band? Whatever the reason I'm glad I had a chance to get to know Powder before they became yet another statistic of the British music scene.

Alex Allegos