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.
With Friends Like These
Stereolab Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Maybe the law should intervene
All this violence is threatening
Hate is in need of censoring
Ban hate and violence
For our convenience
For our convenience
All this violence is puzzling
Maybe the law should intervene
All this violence is threatening
Hate is in need of censoring
Ban hate and violence
For our convenience
Ban hate and violence
For our convenience
Don't we all know the danger
Of two conflicting viewpoints
An active troublemaker
Banning a flame of dissent
So much aggravation
To all haters:
We'll create some rules to stop you
You're a danger
You really shouldn't be allowed to
They piss on morality!
They detest humanity!
Those savages should be banned!
They're so deeply offensive!
Somebody shut them up!
??
They'll still be full of ?? shit
But it's handy
We'll blame it on human nature
They piss on morality!
They detest humanity!
Those savages should be banned!
They're so deeply offensive!
Somebody shut them up!
We'll censor the hell out of you
We'll coerce evil out of you
We'll cut your tongue if we have to
You're the baddies and we hate you
We'll censor the hell out of you
We'll coerce evil out of you
We'll cut your tongue if we have to
You're the baddies and we hate you
The lyrics of "With Friends Like These" by Stereolab explore the complex and controversial issue of censorship. The song suggests that many people find violence and hatred puzzling and threatening, and that the law should intervene to ban or censor these ideas for the sake of everyone's convenience. However, the lyrics also acknowledge the danger of silencing dissenting viewpoints, and caution against becoming "active troublemakers" who ban opposing ideas in a bid to stamp out disagreement and conflict.
As the song progresses, the lyrics become increasingly heated and accusatory, suggesting that those who are "savages" or "baddies" should be banned or censored. However, the final lines of the song appear to suggest that censorship will not solve the problem, as people will still be capable of thinking and saying offensive things even if they are banned or silenced. The song raises complex questions about the nature of censorship and how far it should go to protect people from harm, and whether it is ever truly effective at changing people's opinions or behavior.
Line by Line Meaning
All this violence is puzzling
The amount of violence occurring is confusing and difficult to understand.
Maybe the law should intervene
Perhaps the government should become involved in order to prevent more violence.
All this violence is threatening
The current level of violence poses a danger to society.
Hate is in need of censoring
Expressions of hatred should be prohibited.
Ban hate and violence
Make it illegal to express hatred and commit violent acts.
For our convenience
So that we will not have to deal with the negative consequences.
Don't we all know the danger
We are all aware of the risk.
Of two conflicting viewpoints
When two different opinions are present and contradicting.
An active troublemaker
Someone who is intentionally causing problems and stirring up trouble.
Banning a flame of dissent
Outlawing a spark of disagreement.
So much aggravation
The situation is causing a lot of annoyance and frustration for everyone involved.
To all haters:
This is directed towards those who express hate and bigotry.
We'll create some rules to stop you
We will implement laws and regulations to prevent your harmful behavior.
You're a danger
You are a threat to society.
You really shouldn't be allowed to
You are not deserving of the freedom to express your opinions.
They piss on morality!
Their actions and beliefs are in complete disregard of accepted moral standards.
They detest humanity!
They hold disdain and contempt for the human race.
Those savages should be banned!
They should be prohibited from expressing their extreme views.
They're so deeply offensive!
Their behavior and opinions are extremely objectionable and hurtful.
Somebody shut them up!
Someone needs to prevent them from continuing to speak and act in such a harmful manner.
??
Unable to determine meaning without proper context.
They'll still be full of ?? shit
Even if they are silenced, they will continue to hold harmful views and attitudes.
But it's handy
It is convenient to have laws in place that prohibit harmful behavior.
We'll blame it on human nature
We will attribute their harmful behavior to innate human tendencies rather than their own choices.
We'll censor the hell out of you
We will aggressively regulate and control your expression.
We'll coerce evil out of you
We will use force and manipulation to prevent you from acting out of hate.
We'll cut your tongue if we have to
We will take extreme measures to prevent you from expressing hateful beliefs.
You're the baddies and we hate you
You are the villains and we hold animosity towards you.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Written by: LAETITIA SADIER, TIMOTHY JOHN GANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind