Urusei Yatsura (band)

Urusei Yatsura were a now defunct Glaswegian lo-fi rock band.

Founding members Fergus Lawrie and Graham Kemp met in the summer of 1993 while attending the University of Glasgow. In the following drink-fuelled evening they convinced each other to join an imaginary band, which became reality when they also managed to recruit a bassist in Elaine Graham. The line up was completed with the subsequent addition of Elaine's brother Ian Graham on drums. They took their name from a then-obscure Japanese comic, and contributed their first recording "Guitars Are Boring" to a compilation released by the Kazoo Club (based in Glasgow's notorious 13th Note and run at one point by future Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos). This in turn brought them to the attention of John Peel who brought them in to do a session.

Over the years they released three albums: "We Are Urusei Yatsura" (1996), "Slain by Urusei Yatsura" (1998) and "Everybody Loves Urusei Yatsura" (2000). Albums in America and Japan were released under the name of Yatsura for legal reasons. Urusei was mooted, but this is used as a slang term (meaning "fuck you") by the Yakuza, so was rejected.

The band had one Top 40 hit: 1997 single "Hello Tiger", which reached #40. Other singles released by the band include "Phasers On Stun" and "Slain By Elf".

Urusei Yatsura split in June 2001, leaving Graham to work on solo material and the other band members to form Projekt A-ko.

Discography

Albums

ingles / EPs

Compilation Appearances

*"Guitars Are Boring" on Kazoo Collection 12"
*"First Day on a New Planet" on Camden Crawl II CD
*"Kozee Hearts" on Noises From the Sound Cupboard 12"
*"Powerball (demo)" and "Black Hole Love (demo)" on Does The Word 'Duh' Mean Anything To You? CD
*"Exidor (live)" on Abuse Your Friends CD
*"Phasers on Stun" on Japanese Magazine CD