Happyness (band)

Happyness
Background information
Origin London
Genres Alternative rock
Years active 2013-present
Labels Weird Smiling
Website happynessuk.tumblr.com
Members Jon EE Allan
Benji Compston
Ash Cooper
Paul Abderrahim (Live)

Happyness are a 3-piece alternative rock band from London, consisting of Jon EE Allan (Guitar-Bass-Voice), Benji Compston (Guitar-Voice) and Ash Cooper (Drums). All 3 members write the songs and are known for swapping roles within the studio.

History

The band played their first show in November 2013 and have since done various UK, European and US tours, supported The Dandy Warhols, Speedy Ortiz, David Thomas (musician), Suede, and Mac Demarco (among others), played festivals including Reading and Leeds,[1] Bestival, Green Man,[2] End Of The Road, Pickathon, Down The Rabbit Hole, 4 Knots, CMJ (2014, where they were widely regarded as one of the key acts that played[3][4]), SXSW and Three Wheel Drive.

Having written and recorded their first album almost upon forming, their 1st release was "Happyness - EP" in December 2013.[5]

They self-released debut album "Weird Little Birthday" in the UK in June 2014, supported by the singles "Great Minds Think Alike, All Brains Taste The Same" and "Anything I Do Is All Right". The latter was also released with 3 new tracks as a debut 4 track EP in the USA in October 2014. "Weird Little Birthday" was mixed by Adam Lasus (Yo La Tengo, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Etc.) and mastered by the legendary Greg Calbi, receiving great acclaim from NME,[6] The Guardian,[7] Sunday Times, Q, Uncut and Stereogum[8] among others.

The album was re-released with bonus tracks in March 2015 by Moshi Moshi Records in the UK and Bar None Records in the USA.

Happyness won the 2015 NME Award for Best Lyric for the line "I'm wearing Win Butler's hair / There's a scalpless singer of a Montreal rock band somewhere" from the song "Montreal Rock Band Somewhere".[9]

The group’s name comes from the Brute Force song “Hello Moscow”,[10] which includes the line “Where is happiness, people? Where is happiness?”. The band have explained the misspelling as a tribute to the Happy Shopper brand of convenience goods: “It's probably more of a 'satisfied with the quality and standard of...' kind of happy. Like Happy Shopper.”[11][12]

Discography

LPs

Year Title
2014 Weird Little Birthday
  • CD, digital
  • Released: June 2014
  • Label: Weird Smiling
2015 Weird Little Birthday (plus Bonus Tracks)
2017 Write In

EPs

Year Title
2013 Happyness
  • CD, digital
  • Released: December 2013
  • Label: Weird Smiling
2014 Anything I Do Is All Right
  • Vinyl, digital
  • Released: October 2014
  • Label: Weird Smiling
2016 Tunnel Vision on Your part
  • Vinyl, digital
  • Released: September 2016
  • Label: Moshi Moshi

Singles

Year Title Tracks
2014 "Great Minds Think Alike, All Brains Taste The Same"
  • Format: 7", Digital
  • Released: May 2014
 "Great Minds Think Alike, All Brains Taste The Same"
"Stop Whaling"

References

  1. ↑ "Happyness Reading + Leeds". bbc.co.uk.
  2. ↑ "http://www.greenman.net/lineup". External link in |title= (help)
  3. ↑ Boilen, Bob. "Bob Boilen's Top 10 Discoveries From The 2014 CMJ Music Marathon". npr.org.
  4. ↑ Pareles, Jon. "CMJ 2014: The Out-of-Town Advantage for Happyness, the Crookes and Money". http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/. External link in |website= (help)
  5. ↑ Murray, R. "Listen: Happyness - It's On You". clashmusic.com.
  6. ↑ "http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/who-should-be-nominated-for-the-mercury-prize-nme-writers-picks". External link in |title= (help)
  7. ↑ Hann, Michael. "Happyness: Weird Little Birthday review – charming UK slacker-rock". theguardian.com.
  8. ↑ DeVille, Chris. "Band To Watch: Happyness". stereogum.com.
  9. ↑ "NME Awards 2015: 5 Seconds of Summer named worst band as Kasabian win". The Independent. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  10. ↑ "Happyness - want to know where we got our name ? | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  11. ↑ Taylor, Rob. "Interview: "Cowboys, pancakes, kissing and holding hands" Happyness talk to Soundblab". Soundblab. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  12. ↑ "Happyness Interview: "Easy Listening Sex Rock" - Overblown". Overblown. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
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