guitarists and singers) met in their mutual hometown of Plymouth, Devon, UK and first worked together in 1988 in the psychedelic thrash-metal band Die Laughing, in which the two developed a tightly integrated and interlocking guitar style. After Die Laughing split in 1993, Chudley formed the band Squid Squad in which he played with singing flute player/clarinettist Sarah Measures and drummer Jamie Keddie. Torabi, Chudley, Measures and Keddie (along with bass player Laurie Osbourne) all relocated to Leyton, East London in 1994 and formed The Monsoon Bassoon. Early days, Redoubtable and In Bold Gardens (1994–1997) Early gigs and recordings brought The Monsoon Bassoon to the attention of Organ magazine and Org Records, who issued their first release - (the cassette EP Redoubtable) in 1995. The band briefly went into hiatus later that year following the departure of Jamie Keddie to the eccentric Britpop group Octopus. However, he was persuaded to return in early 1996 and the band began a new lease of life. In 1997, The Monsoon Bassoon began recording material for their debut album, with Tim Smith (Cardiacs) as producer. Several of these tracks were released in early 1998 on a demo cassette called In Bold Gardens which received limited circulation and a handful of reviews. By this time the band were developing a strong reputation on the London underground scene thanks to their powerful live act, now focussed into tighter songs, and had played on concert bills with Nub and Sidi Bou Said. The year of breakthrough singles (1998) Monsoon Bassoon manager John Fowers had now set up Weird Neighbourhood Records in order to issue Monsoon Bassoon recordings. The label's first release was the debut Monsoon Bassoon single, the double A-side Wise Guy/28 Days In Rocket Ship. Much to the band's astonishment, this was awarded Single of the Week in New Musical Express. Laurie Osbourne later recalled "we had a really trendy moment where for some reason the NME started getting into progressive music. There was a writer called Simon Williams who runs Fierce Panda who discovered Coldplay, Super Furry Animals and so on, and he was really into us, so we had a moment of strange trendiness in amidst eight years of terminal untrendiness, you know?" Kavus Torabi remembers that "it really kick-started an interest in the band. I love that it was completely on our own terms, it doesn't sound like anything else. It's such an