While at art college in Reading, Liam met David Westlake and Joe Wilson, who would both contribute to the first three albums and join the band on tour. When F.R.I.S.K. performed a gig with this line-up they later recorded some demos with Chris singing - these were considered the next stage in the evolution of Chis and Liam's professional partnership; another in an ever-improving set of smaller projects intended for a few thousand records at most. Drafting in Ian Pickering in 1995 to help with lyrics, they recruited Kelli Dayton for vocal duties after seeing her singing in a pub in Reading. The name 'Sneaker Pimps' itself was taken from a Beastie Boys article about a man they hired to track down classic shoes.
The first single Roll On preceded the first album, followed by Spin Spin Sugar, Post-Modern Sleaze, 6 Underground and Tesko Suicide. The album contains a myriad of 90s pop-culture references (such as film Thelma and Louise) coupled to dark double entendres and puns on drug taking and suicide. It was wildly successful everywhere: in America it remains their only real hit. In 2005, the song "Post-Modern Sleaze" (from the Becoming X album) was used as the theme song for Matroesjka's, an acclaimed Flemish drama series about Eastern European prostitutes and Belgians involved in the related sex trade.
Becoming X was "toured to death" over two years, particularly in America where the toll on Chris led to mental instability chronicled in the song Low Five. Depending on who you believe, Kelli Dayton left the band in 1998 or was sacked, going on to a solo career as Kelli Ali. The band trialled new vocallists, demoing some new songs with Icelandic chanteuse Emilíana Torrini, but coupled with the feeling that these demos fit Corner's voice better, and the fear of being identified with the fad for trip-hop acts, Corner became the singer. The Line of Flight studio was moved from Hartlepool to London and production on the next album started immediately.
1999's Splinter features the back of Chris' head, symbolizing the break with Kelli and his not feeling up to the responsibility of being a 'front man'. Dayton's departure, while lamented by many, was positively received by some critics who felt that it gave the band a more honest, emotional timbre and a more uniquely identifiable sound, especially with regard to the rawer and more personal quality of the lyrics. The album's production retains the sampled style of Becoming X while being edgier, less beat-driven, and at times more psychedelic. Due to wrangles with Virgin Records, the album was self-released on their own Clean Up label and not released in the US. Without significant promotion, and the lack of obvious singles that Becoming X had shown, the album was not as successful, but the favourable critical response led the band to set up their own club night in London. Called 'Home Taping' and hosted at the [venue]ICA[/venue], it invited celebrities and musicians to submit their own cassette mixes for the night's entertainment, and the odd live set by the band. Allegedly, one was even received by Madonna.
For 2002's Bloodsport, the band decamped to France and Germany, recording in a farmhouse while capturing the trans-European essence of Berlinesque "new-wave punk". Liam Howe was unavailable, so long-term associate and friend Chris Tate was brought in for synthesizer duties. The album was a glossier affair than before and included Flood on production duties rather than the band. On Bloodsport's release (including this time the US via Tommy Boy Records) the album was a comparative flop, but made the Austrian top twenty. Its singles were more successful in both the UK and Europe.
Sneaker Pimps recorded demos, previewed live in Russia and on European radio in 2003 for an unknown movie soundtrack and a fourth album tentatively titled 'Recall' or 'Songs of Imaginary Beings'. The album was never released; Chris and Liam purportedly shelved the tracks as a Sneaker Pimps album for several reasons. One, they contained some very emotional songs penned by Corner that were felt to be more suitable for a solo project, and two, in some cases were simply not being good enough to be released. The band eventually drifted apart during protracted sessions for the 4th album: many of the 'SP4' demos leaked and have been rereleased by Chris Corner's solo project IAMX on 2004's Kiss and Swallow and 2006's The Alternative. Another solo project, not including Corner or Howe, was the nu-rave and Madchester influenced Trash Money.
In late 2006, it emerged that seven new demos had been found and leaked from a portable music player left in a Russian bar. The demos, including "Rush", "Samaritan", "Sun Ate The Moon", "The Shutdown" and "Satellite" all sung by a new female singer believed to be Paris Hampton and referred to by fans as 'SP5. The band did not comment on the leaking of this material until 2015 when Liam Howe confirmed that "the Magnificent 7" had been recorded by Sneaker Pimps exploring a new, poppier sound.
Joe and David left the band to work in film production and academia. Liam Howe went on to have a successful career in music production, while Chris moved to Berlin and later Los Angeles as IAMX enjoyed a sustained alternative career, releasing Kingdom of Welcome Addiction in 2009, Dogmatic Infidel Comedown Ok in 2010, Volatile Times in 2011, The Unified Field in 2013, Metanoia in 2016, Everything is Burning in 2017, Unfall in 2018, Alive in New Light in 2019 and Echo, Echo in 2020. Ian Pickering launched his new project The Noise who Runs in 2020.
Chris and Liam continued to tease working together on new projects throughout various IAMX eras, including a session initially planned as Sneaker Pimps material becoming the Liam-produced IAMX mini-album "Everything is Burning".
In 2019, singer Simonne Jones was confirmed as the new featured singer of Sneaker Pimps which then began recording their new album together in earnest. Finally in May 2021, 18 years after their last album was released, the Squaring the Circle era was announced with two new singles, "Fighter" and "Squaring The Circle," which were released in July.
A remix album 'Rework Collection 1' was released in August, and their fourth full studio record 'Squaring The Circle' was released on September 10th, 2021 on Chris Corner's label UNFALL Productions. 'Squaring The Circle' features material recorded with both Simonne and Chris on lead vocals.
More remix albums and a re-release of the band's older records is also planned, with the band regaining copy and distribution rights of 'Becoming X' and 'Splinter' via One Little Independent Records and the ongoing negotiations of a re-release of 'Bloodsport' with Tommy Boy Records.
Clean
Sneaker Pimps Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The Sneaker Pimps's song Clean is a haunting and emotive exploration of guilt, redemption, and the primal human desire to be purified. The lyrics are dreamlike and surreal, taking the listener on a journey through the nightmarish landscapes of the singer's subconscious. The song starts off with the singer recounting a dream where they held someone they loved tightly while witnessing the burning of a thousand babies in the streets. The imagery here is shockingly brutal, and it sets the tone for the rest of the song.
The singer then questions how they can get themselves clean, suggesting that they feel responsible for the atrocities they have witnessed. This feeling of guilt is further emphasized when they describe nailing a thousand silver nails into their savior's wrists, perhaps as an act of self-punishment. The savior tells the singer that it will take a million waterfalls to wash their sins away and cleanse them. This is a powerful metaphor for the magnitude of their guilt and the monumental effort it will take to absolve themselves of it.
Overall, the song is a powerful exploration of human despair and the longing for redemption. The vivid imagery and dreamlike quality of the lyrics add to the haunting and atmospheric quality of the music.
Line by Line Meaning
I had a dream Last night
The singer had a dream last night
They came into my arms And i held you so tight
In the dream, the singer held someone tightly in their arms
The sky was black
In the dream, the sky was black
And in the streets I watched a thousand babies burn
In the dream, the artist watched as thousands of babies burned in the streets
How can I get myself, get myself clean
The artist is questioning how they can cleanse themselves
I watched a thousand babies burn
The singer witnessed a horrific event in their dream
How can I get myself, get myself clean
The singer reiterates their desire to cleanse themselves
It's gonna take a million waterfalls to wash away the sin
The artist believes it will take an extensive amount of purification to rid themselves of their sins
The sun went black
In the dream, the sun disappeared
And for its kiss I nailed a thousand silver nails into my saviour's wrists
The artist metaphorically caused pain to their savior as a form of self-punishment
And he said girl, see what I mean
The savior speaks to the singer in their dream and tries to make them understand something
It's gonna take a million waterfalls to wash yourself, wash yourself Clean
The savior tells the artist that it will take a lot of purification for them to become clean
I watched these thousand babies burn
The singer is haunted by the events they witnessed in their dream
And in the midst of my, midst of my dream
The events took place in the singer's dream
I watched these thousand babies burn, baby burn baby burn Clean
The singer wants to become clean after being exposed to such a traumatic event
Contributed by Hudson I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@iamPixiePix
I’m still listening to this in 2018. Dirty as fuck🤘🏻
@krystaldeep6
So under rated
@tickedoffnow
Alien Music 👽♥️👽
@discardmyfriends
Never knew this existed
@hchano
Just wanted to thank you for posting this online, hadn't heard it in ages, and really wanted to listen to it, and lo and behold here it is. I've been listening to it like once a week for the past month now :'D So thanks!!
@B4mbu5
OMFG I WANT THIS NOW !!!
@sandimental
One of the dopest b-sides ever. Garbage (the band) please cover this!!!
@M3TAN0IA
totally agree. reminds me of a PJ Harvey track
@xiolaamapola3180
Looooove this song ❤ thanks for posting! -XA
@Catman-ke2dx
thanks ...........had ok live version, but this is better they were good with kelli!