Stereolab are a UK-based band whose style, mixing 1950s–1960s pop and loung… Read Full Bio ↴Stereolab are a UK-based band whose style, mixing 1950s–1960s pop and lounge music with the “motorik” beat of krautrock, was one of the first to which the term “post-rock” was applied. People frequently refer to their style as being "avant-pop." They are noted for the use of vintage keyboard instruments like Moog synthesizers and Vox and Farfisa organs. Stereolab is also notable for founding their own record label, Duophonic Records, with a grant from UK charity The Prince’s Trust. The band is often referred to as “The Groop” by their fans (and in the title of their song “The Groop Play Chord X” on the album Space Age Batchelor Pad Music).
They were founded in 1990 by songwriters Tim Gane (guitar, keyboards), formerly of the band McCarthy, and Laetitia Sadier (sometimes credited as Seaya Sadier; vocals, keyboards, trombone, guitar), who is from France and sings in both English and French.
Over the years, Gane and Sadier have enlisted a large number of other musicians to accompany them on stage and on record. The initial line-up featured Martin Kean, formerly of The Chills, on bass, and Joe Dilworth (from their Too Pure label-mates Th’ Faith Healers) on drums, with Russell Yates (of Moose) and Mick Conroy (ex-Modern English) also appearing at early live shows. In 1993 they recruited Andy Ramsay (drums), who has remained in the group line-up ever since, and Mary Hansen (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion). Hansen’s distinctive backing vocals became an important aspect of the Stereolab sound, and she remained a regular feature of the line-up until her death in a cycling accident on December 9, 2002. Multi-instrumentalist Sean O’Hagan of The High Llamas has also been a frequent contributor, particularly with string, brass and keyboard arrangements to the band’s studio albums. John McEntire (Tortoise) has also contributed keyboard, electronic effects and studio help over the years. Other members have come and (in some cases) gone over the years, including Duncan Brown, Dave Pajo (from Tortoise), Richard Harrison and Simon Johns (all bass); Gina Morris (vocals); and Katharine Gifford and Morgane Lhote (both on keyboards).
Early Stereolab material displayed a heavy influence of krautrock sounds, particularly Neu! and Faust, characteristically relying on droning, repetitive guitar or keyboard riffs, with or without vocals. Early heavy use of distorted Farfisa combo-organ sounds were also reminiscent of early recordings by The Modern Lovers. As the band developed, they incorporated new instrumentation, and an increasingly complex sense of rhythm and structure, frequently making use of irregular time signatures as well as unorthodox chord progressions and melodic intervals. The band has often made copious use of female backing vocal lines.
Lyrically, Stereolab’s music is quirky (song titles evoke memories of 1950s science fiction stories, and are often borrowed directly from old films and records of the period, but have nothing to do with the song’s content), but highly politically and philosophically charged, sometimes with a decidedly Surrealist or Situationist bent. (Sadier notes the libertarian Marxist theoretician Cornelius Castoriadis as a particular inspiration.) Sadier’s lyrics, in both French and English, often read like highly condensed sociological texts, standing in deliberate and distinct counterpoint to the lush hedonic pop sound of the band. A prime example would be “Ping Pong” from Mars Audiac Quintet, which is an explicit restating of Marxist theory concerning the relationship between economic cycles and war cycles.
Stereolab earned a minor place in the Britpop movement, with their sound proving influential to bands like Blur: occasional keyboard-driven b-sides and singer Damon Albarn’s love of retro keyboards showed the influence, and in recognition Laetitia Sadier was invited to provide vocals on “To The End” from Parklife.
Despite the band’s fan base and critical acclaim, Stereolab has not achieved high levels of financial or popular success. On June 7, 2004, suits at the Warner Music label (to whom the band was signed in the U.S.) announced they were dropping Stereolab in response to the poor sales (40,000 to that date) of Margerine Eclipse. This was part of an ongoing effort by Warner to cut costs; The Breeders and Third Eye Blind were also dropped from the label for this reason. Laetitia Sadier is now also a member of Monade, which is essentially expressive of her own singular musical goals.
They were founded in 1990 by songwriters Tim Gane (guitar, keyboards), formerly of the band McCarthy, and Laetitia Sadier (sometimes credited as Seaya Sadier; vocals, keyboards, trombone, guitar), who is from France and sings in both English and French.
Over the years, Gane and Sadier have enlisted a large number of other musicians to accompany them on stage and on record. The initial line-up featured Martin Kean, formerly of The Chills, on bass, and Joe Dilworth (from their Too Pure label-mates Th’ Faith Healers) on drums, with Russell Yates (of Moose) and Mick Conroy (ex-Modern English) also appearing at early live shows. In 1993 they recruited Andy Ramsay (drums), who has remained in the group line-up ever since, and Mary Hansen (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion). Hansen’s distinctive backing vocals became an important aspect of the Stereolab sound, and she remained a regular feature of the line-up until her death in a cycling accident on December 9, 2002. Multi-instrumentalist Sean O’Hagan of The High Llamas has also been a frequent contributor, particularly with string, brass and keyboard arrangements to the band’s studio albums. John McEntire (Tortoise) has also contributed keyboard, electronic effects and studio help over the years. Other members have come and (in some cases) gone over the years, including Duncan Brown, Dave Pajo (from Tortoise), Richard Harrison and Simon Johns (all bass); Gina Morris (vocals); and Katharine Gifford and Morgane Lhote (both on keyboards).
Early Stereolab material displayed a heavy influence of krautrock sounds, particularly Neu! and Faust, characteristically relying on droning, repetitive guitar or keyboard riffs, with or without vocals. Early heavy use of distorted Farfisa combo-organ sounds were also reminiscent of early recordings by The Modern Lovers. As the band developed, they incorporated new instrumentation, and an increasingly complex sense of rhythm and structure, frequently making use of irregular time signatures as well as unorthodox chord progressions and melodic intervals. The band has often made copious use of female backing vocal lines.
Lyrically, Stereolab’s music is quirky (song titles evoke memories of 1950s science fiction stories, and are often borrowed directly from old films and records of the period, but have nothing to do with the song’s content), but highly politically and philosophically charged, sometimes with a decidedly Surrealist or Situationist bent. (Sadier notes the libertarian Marxist theoretician Cornelius Castoriadis as a particular inspiration.) Sadier’s lyrics, in both French and English, often read like highly condensed sociological texts, standing in deliberate and distinct counterpoint to the lush hedonic pop sound of the band. A prime example would be “Ping Pong” from Mars Audiac Quintet, which is an explicit restating of Marxist theory concerning the relationship between economic cycles and war cycles.
Stereolab earned a minor place in the Britpop movement, with their sound proving influential to bands like Blur: occasional keyboard-driven b-sides and singer Damon Albarn’s love of retro keyboards showed the influence, and in recognition Laetitia Sadier was invited to provide vocals on “To The End” from Parklife.
Despite the band’s fan base and critical acclaim, Stereolab has not achieved high levels of financial or popular success. On June 7, 2004, suits at the Warner Music label (to whom the band was signed in the U.S.) announced they were dropping Stereolab in response to the poor sales (40,000 to that date) of Margerine Eclipse. This was part of an ongoing effort by Warner to cut costs; The Breeders and Third Eye Blind were also dropped from the label for this reason. Laetitia Sadier is now also a member of Monade, which is essentially expressive of her own singular musical goals.
"Get a Shot of the Refrigerator"
Stereolab Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Stereolab:
"...Sudden Stars" Sweet smelling Essences Hugs and smiles Sweet kisses Mov…
-Animal Or Vegetable All the world's insanity Oh the tragic empire Oh an animal …
-Animal Or Vegetable... All the world's insanity Oh the tragic empire Oh an animal…
...Sudden Stars Sweet smelling Essences Hugs and smiles Sweet kisses Movemen…
10 Monstre Sacre Hastened decrepit, Old shrunken apple, Ready for the pit, …
12 Dear Marge In this mess, precious dust Gather strength, softness Guard …
Aelita Kneeling at the feet of the highness Riveted by the weightl…
Allures You ask and not Remain forever In a state of infertility …
Analogue Rock All good things to come, All good things to come,…
Anemie L'amour qui court, l'amour toujours L'amour secours, l'amour…
Animal or Vegetable All the world's insanity Oh the tragic empire Oh an animal …
Anonymous You and me are molded by things Well beyond our…
Au Grand Jour We need a shake and therefore demand more than the…
Au Grand Jour' The only impossible thing is to delimit the impossible The r…
Avant Garde M.O.R Now it is the time to say no to the…
Baby Lulu Dive in, the heart of extremes, All assembled in a style, Ex…
Barock Romance Promise des l'enfance Je vis dans l'espérance de ren…
Barock-Plastik Romance Promise des l'enfance Je vis dans l'esperance de ren…
Blips I pick up by the handful The somber heap at my…
Blue Milk C'est l'image qui, Vit dans le sang Elle enfante eternelle…
Bop Scotch On ne joue pas avec la liberte Elle ne se divise…
Brakhage We need so damn many things To keep our dazed lives…
Brigitte Envie de boire et de fumer Envie de boire, envie d'aimer Br…
Brittle What would What would we do without you See you…
Cadriopo Chaque art particulier Rien n'est jamais donné Des cas parti…
Caleidoscopic Gaze All the women Who understand How natural And good it…
Canned Candies J'ai perdu mon chien Reviens La La La J'ai perdu mon…
Captain Easychord Let live what must live, die what must die Birth comes…
Carpet I hate to see your broken face This world would give…
Cellulose Sunshine Il n'y a rien de, De plus vrai que, De plus vrai…
Changer Changer Changer Changer la vie Changer le monde Changer d'av…
Check and Double Check Clearly we won't know unless we try The possibilities are op…
Chemical Chords Sometimes it is half full Or sometimes half empty For some i…
Come And Play In The Milky Night Led astray Before the Fragile defense of words Come and sta…
Come Andy Play In The MIlky Night Led astray Before the Fragile defense of words Come and stay…
Contronatura My dearest friend you can, My dearest friend you can, You ca…
Cosmic Country Noir Look in the mirror that's held out See the spot that…
Crest If there's been a way to build it, There'll be…
Cybele But silence-trera means nothing, or it's just for the rhyme.…
Daisy Click Clack Clap clap clap clap all will join in Tap tap tap…
Dear Marge In this mess, precious dust Gather strength, softness Gua…
Delugeoisie I do not hate nor do I love bourgeois people…
Des Etoile Electroniques Les villes vues d'avion sont semblables Les villes vues d'av…
Des Étoiles Électroniques Les villes vues d'avion sont semblables Les villes vues d'a…
Diagonals Souviens-toi des vacances Vacances de la petite Qui cherche …
Double Rocker Oui tu es le bonheur, Le morceau de beurre Qui rend la…
Doubt Doubt will kill you Youth passed away Amongst the various co…
Elektro Isolation I suffer We've been told horrible lies We've been …
Eloge d'Eros Non rien en effet n'est pour moi de plus précieux Que…
Emperor Les allées, les venues, labyrinthe, mais qu'y vois je? La so…
Enfer Des Formes Le De la même manière, Que des filles un peu naïves, On se…
Enivrez-Vous Il faut tre toujours ivre. Tout est l, c'est l'unique…
Escape Pod Sans savoir a l' avance De quoi donc il va s'…
Everybody's Weird Except Me The most beautiful of dreams sense nothing As long as it…
Excursions Into "Oh A-Oh" Riding after recognition Instant gratification Silky cradle …
Exploding Head Movie We got to keep the lift hope and struggle Where is…
Eye Of The Volcano Express reality was... Those who may cast it...forward I…
Farfisa penser au delà de la pensée où le coeur est manquant penser…
Feel and Triple Goodbye Mary Goodbye Mary Memory of a friend Memory …
Flower Called Nowhere All the small boats on the water aren't Going anywhere, Sure…
Fluorescences I looked at the sun through filters A hit that drove…
Fractal Dream of a Thing To some, reality appears normal To me it seems vested with…
Free Design Where it had been left Hundreds of years ago Extract from th…
French Disco Though this world's essentially An absurd place to be livin…
French Disko Though this world's essentially an absurd place to be living…
Fruition The allusion The sublimating Tribulation The reborn sense Q…
Fuses We haven't lyrics of this song. Please, add these lyrics…
Galaxidion Let us be wise and resigned Let us be sweet and…
Golden Atoms Parler francais Parler anglais Parler allemand Parler …
Golden Ball To accentuate Put against the uniform that... ..fit Deep int…
Good Is Me I am good, therefore good is me He is not me…
Gus the Mynah Bird A military regime in democratic disguise That lies in all im…
Hallucinex I look forward to That day when The show will stop Will stop…
Harmonium La fin des jours d'automne est pénétrante Ah pénétrante jus…
Heavy Denim We're not here to get bored We are here to disrupt To…
High Expectation Do you really want To love someone Who does not love you Do…
High Expectations Do you really want To love someone Who does not love you …
Hillbilly Motobike Tout est finitude Et recommencement La nature a des cycles E…
Household Names Love befall from the apple tree none have [verve?] left to…
I From the sky would fall an incessant rain of bombs We…
I Feel the Air The appeal of a consequence Perfect as it couldn't say no Me…
I Was A Sunny Rainphase Made myself a sandwich Put it in my hatchback A…
I'm Going Out of My Way To compose, and decompose, to decompose The ebb and flow of…
Infinity Girl New realities are conditions Much to little for us to suffer…
Interlock The desert is growing The wars are threatening Where's t…
International Colouring Contes Into outer space with Lucia Pamela The moon is the place…
International Colouring Contest Into outer space with Lucia Pamela The moon is the place…
Intervals Once the mind is calm, Once the ego is quailed Travel…
Italian Shoes Continuum Chassez le Naturel Pas la peine De ses ailes Il revient Las…
Jaunty Monty And The Bubbles O You walked in Around Through a door Got inside Sweet Ange…
Jenny Ondioline Life on earth is a bloody As in the city the…
John Cage Bubble Gum see'est le plus beau et see'est le plus triste see'est le …
John Cage Bubblegum see'est le plus beau et see'est le plus triste see'est le pl…
K-Stars They were young In their mid-twenties Some in their teens T…
L'Enfer Des Formes De la même manière, Que des filles un peu naïves, On se…
La Boob Oscillator La La lune est libre je crois, Qui rayonne au-dessus, Rayonn…
La Demeure People are pressed, Liberties crushed Shouldn't it resound C…
Laisser-faire It will come to us as a shock but we're…
Laserblast C'est un message, c'est un message C'est un message, c'est …
Leleklato Sugar It is confused, indiscernible Confused, virtuously by natur…
Les Bon Bons Des Raisons Curled upon a contracted And drowsy exterior Humming to Aunt…
Les Bons Bons de Raisons Curled upon a contracted And drowsy exterior Humming to Au…
Les Yper Sound You go in that team I go on this team Divide everything A…
Les Yper Yper Sound You go in that team, I go on this team Divide…
Les Yper-sound You go in that team I go on this team Divide everything A…
Les Yper-Sounds You go in that team I go on this team Divide everything A…
Les Yper-Yper Sound You go in that team I go on this team Divide everything A…
Lo Boob Oscilator La La lune est libre je crois, Qui rayonne au-dessus, Rayonn…
Lock-Groove Lullaby Learn to earn how Learn how things are I salute the people…
Low Fi Petit homme aux cheveux d'or Homme aux cheveux d'or C'es…
Margerine Melodie When two people have a project They begin a competition In w…
Margerine Rock The beauty of this creature could only be equaled by The…
Mass Riff The only rampart against war The only and real force of…
Mellotron Au point illimit Au point illimit La sensualit Noye dans la…
Melochord Seventy-Five sur des rosiers ardents Melochord Seventy-Five On burnin…
Metronomic Crazy, sturdy, a torpedo Crazy, brutal, a torpedo Who knows…
Microclimate Dommage Tant pis Ah, qu′est-ce qu'on est bête! On avait tout…
Miss Modular Sur la boite cartonnee un trompe-l'oeil Avoue volontiers qu'…
Monstre Hastened decrepit, Old shrunken apple, Ready for the pit, I …
Moodles Le temps venu d'en arriver la La tete se demande s'il…
Motoroller What's society built on What's society built on What's s…
Motoroller Scalatron What's society built on What's society built on What's soc…
Mountain Supreme and celestial elevated vertical grandiose proportio…
Munich Madness Humour et vrit Senss dmanteler Tout frais et toute pimpant…
Naught More Terrific Than Man His wisdom, his art surpassed all expectancies, and yet Rea…
Need to Be C'est la tentation D'etre toute absorbee De n'avoir plus a s…
Neon Beanbag I'm sad to see that you are sad I'm sad to…
New Orthophony Need to examine, Uncritical times.…
Nhilist Assault Group What's morals after all Set of rules from above Moral…
Nihilist Assault Group What's morals after all Set of rules from above Moral…
Noise Of Carpet I hate to see your broken face This world would give…
Nomus et Phusis Mon doux b??soit un battant de la libert?br /> Ne…
Nothing to do With Me Absurd and sensible Quite unacceptable Let go Pull your leg …
Nought More Terrific Than Man His wisdom, his art surpassed all expectancies, and yet Rea…
Nous vous demandons pardon toujours éclairé, de l'interieur par la lumiere de la cole…
Off-On My whole life is/feels like a monstrous and pulpy vegeta…
Olv 26 Depuis le temps que c'est promis Nous irons tous au paradis …
One Finger Symphony En des recoins, des abords sombres Ce qui sort do coeur…
One Small Step From the sky would fall an incessant rain of bombs We…
Op Hop Detonation Suffer you little children, Remain passive and fearful Suffe…
Orgiastic Confuse forms, unleashing of passions Confuse forms, by mea…
Our Trinitone Blast What you decide to be is what you are Your only…
Outer Accelerator In whatever society, There invariably, Will seem to be, Just…
Pack Yr Romantic Mind The greater is the beauty, The profounder is the stain,…
Parsec Vous etiez l'evidence Vous n'etes plus que l'enigme Vous e…
Pause Retrieve the past, Like a prayer, Bringing it back, Into…
Peng 33 Curiosity was far greater than our fear It felt so simple…
Peng! 33 Curiosity was far greater than our fear It felt so simple…
People Do It All the Time Fragile rare occasion Out of chaos a creation Binding into o…
Percolator J'ai très très peur, ça c'est certain J'ai très très peur,…
Perversion In our Christian society There's something wrong with having…
Pinball C'est la realite On ne peut plus aller Perdre la verite Tout…
Ping Pong It's alright 'cause the historical pattern has shown How th…
Plastic Mile "Lover, lover" of the aquatic slime "Lover, lover", love, …
Pop Quiz Ways of doing and work Definition of truth Sexual regulation…
Prisoner of Mars Searching news ways of laughing Ones whereby one could Exp…
Puncture in the Radax Permutation Lonely walker humanoid, Listening to forgotten sounds Tast…
Puncture In The Radx Permutation Lonely walker humanoid, Listening to forgotten sounds Tastin…
Rainbo Conversation yearn for romantic compassion To love is my sole aspiration…
Refractions in the plastic pul Ce qui est n'est pas clos, do point de vue…
Retrograde Mirror Form Fous moi la paix Leave me alone…
Reverie But silence-trera means nothing, or it's just for the rhyme.…
Revox Languir Fremir Mourir Gemir Franchir Pourir Sentir Murir Fle…
Ronco Symphony We want unconditional, unconditional, unconditional We want …
and many more tracks by Stereolab.
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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