Biography
Mark Greaney - vocals, guitar and keyboardsSarah Fox - bass
Fergal Matthews - drums
Mark and Fergal were in high school together and decided to form a band on the condition that Mark made all the decisions. They got Hilary Woods in to play bass and released a 5 track demo in 1999 'Pillows'. They've been compared to bands like Radiohead, Manic Street Preachers and Nirvana but say they were more influenced by the likes of Joy Division and Smashing Pumpkins.
An appearance on XFM's 'unsigned' show started to get them recognised and signed a deal to Lakota Records, one of the many branches of the Sony tree. The single 'October' was released in autumn 1999, 'Snow' followed in February 2000 and 'Long Way South' in May 2000.
But it was 'Oxygen' released in 2000 that saw them make their first Top Of The Pops appearance. Their debut album JJ72 was released during the summer coinciding with their many festival dates. JJ72 then decided to re-release a couple of their previous singles, appearing on TOTP again to support them.
Touring started in earnest from Spring of 2000 as they supported The Dandy Warhols and played at Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds and the Witness festival in Ireland. The a headling tour saw them travel around the UK playing over 25 dates between October and December.
At the start of 2001 they were joint headliners with AMEN for the NME's 2001 tour. They hit all the festivals again that year and included not only a UK tour but a European one too, the finale being supporting U2 at London's Earls Court. In Spring of the next year they headed off to the States in support of Coldplay and released their second album 'I To Sky' described as 'a mix of maturity and romantic heartbreaking songs and life examining lyrics'.
As 2005 kicks off they start an Ireland and UK tour in advance of their third release that is planned for the summer. Festivals have already booked them and they approach all these shows with a new bassist Sarah Fox (Canadian - ex The Fangs). read less
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- JJ72 at Download 2005 (Reviewed)