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.
Super Electric
Stereolab Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Unexpected moments
The most inopportune
Some see the flesh before they see the bones
Some see the bones before
Before they see the flesh
...
The most inopportune
Some never see the bones at all
Some never see the flesh at all
Some never see the flesh at all
No never never flesh at all
To explain, I was made to exorcise his pain
Torn to pieces and (inform them)
... beyond repair
... reforging
Some ... at easy failure
The lyrics of Stereolab's song Super-Electric are a reflection on the complexity and unpredictability of life. The opening lines "Unexpected moments, the most inopportune" set the stage for the idea that life is often full of surprises, and not always good ones. The next lines, "Some see the flesh before they see the bones, some see the bones before before they see the flesh" suggest that people have different ways of processing these surprises. Some react instinctively, responding first to the surface level of a situation before understanding it fully, while others take a more analytical approach, seeing the underlying structure before reacting to the surface level.
The song then takes a turn, with the lines "Some never see the bones at all, some never see the flesh at all, no never never flesh at all..." These repeated lines suggest that some people are never able to fully understand life, never seeing the deeper levels or the surface layers, always caught in a state of confusion or ignorance. The final lines, "To explain, I was made to exorcise his pain, torn to pieces and (inform them)...beyond repair, reforging, some...at easy failure" are more cryptic, but seem to suggest that the singer is trying to make sense of something painful, and is struggling to find a way to repair it.
Line by Line Meaning
Unexpected moments
Moments that are sudden and surprising
The most inopportune
Those moments happening at the worst possible time
Some see the flesh before they see the bones
Some people focus on superficial things before they notice deeper, more important things
Some see the bones before
Some people notice the fundamental aspects before anything else
Before they see the flesh
Before looking too deeply into what's on the surface
Some never see the bones at all
Some people miss the important aspects completely
Some never see the flesh at all
Some people never pay attention to superficial qualities
No never never flesh at all
Again, emphasizing not focusing too much on the superficial
To explain, I was made to exorcise his pain
The artist is suggesting that they have been tasked with helping someone deal with their emotional pain
Torn to pieces and (inform them)
The artist was emotionally damaged in the process
... beyond repair
Perhaps the damage done to the singer was irreparable
... reforging
However, there's hope that they can recover and rebuild themselves
Some ... at easy failure
Some people fall apart easily when faced with failure or hardship
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Written by: LAETITIA SADIER, TIMOTHY JOHN GANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Pollemflux
30 yeara ago I was smitten with this track as a 16 year old. Amazing memories going to the concert in Amsterdam. Can't believe I'm stuck in the body of an adult now. 🤣
R S P
They just closed their regular set in Amsterdam Paradiso with this song.
I totally forgot bout this one, but was so delighted when they played it ❤️
Carlos Marques
muito boa banda que já ouço há anos. Boa musica a qual não conhecia
paul elliott
Great post
Great band
Great song
Thanks
plonkywonky
Couldn't agree more
infrequentvlogs
1 of my favorite 100 aongs. I don't really have a list compiled.... BUT I FEEL this song very deep down. I need it like medicine, some times.
blipblip88
drones and repetition...so soothing.
ModMokkaMatti
Don't forget the motorik beats... or Mary.
David Jones
Just pure love.
blodwynswayze
I think after "can anybody hear me" he expected the crowd to take it!