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.
Nihilist Assault Group
Stereolab Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Set of rules from above
Moral panic calls for more censorship
While annihilating le perdure sens critique
Critique, moral panic calls for more censorship
Morals are for the Blind, not the critical mind
Morals which don't even tackle the real issues
Morals which don't even tackle the real problems
Morals that just seek control over our lives
The lyrics of Stereolab's Nihilist Assault Group express the sentiment that morals are not necessarily a helpful guide for living. The song suggests that morals are simply a set of rules that come from some external authority, rather than being the result of critical reasoning or personal reflection on what is truly important in life. The song also criticizes the way that moral panic can lead to more censorship, which in turn can lead to a loss of the ability to critically assess our surroundings and make independent judgments.
The lyrics also suggest that morals are often focused on insignificant issues rather than the real problems that require our attention. This can distract us from the real issues that matter, or even lead us to create problems where there aren't any through excessive intervention or control. The song thus advocates for a more critical approach to life, in which we prioritize our own sense of judgment over blind obedience to a set of rules that may not serve our best interests.
Line by Line Meaning
What's morals after all
Morals are meaningless
Set of rules from above
Morals are dictated by those in power
Moral panic calls for more censorship
Fear-based reactions lead to calls for censorship
While annihilating le perdure sens critique
This censorship destroys critical thinking
Critique, moral panic calls for more censorship
Even critical thinking is silenced by fear-based reactions
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LAETITIA SADIER, TIMOTHY JOHN GANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind