Frank Cougar

"...inhabitant of a surreal and enigmatic world between music and the spoken word, cabaret and a half-remembered Raymond Chandler novel, darkness and the void."
Sonic Arts Network

"...engaging experimental pop/blues/psych/who-knows-what..very well crafted atmospheric indie music with ambient/electronic elements. Frank Cougar is an artist with genuinely original ideas."
Kim Harten, Bliss Aquamarine

Hunter Stockton Thompson (1937-2005)
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro"...

Frank Cougar was born and bred in Birmingham's Chelmsley Wood. Later in life he became resident in London which is where he sowed the seeds of his musical career, fronting several different projects as well as his solo work. This career followed in the footsteps of his father who was a singer himself.

Having sung for various projects while in London (including Chrome Dog Bone, Sons of Samuel Volcano and recording an album of soundtracks under the pseudonym Andy Green), Frank moved back to Birmingham's Chelmsley Wood a few years ago in order to bless the people of Birmingham with his unique talent. This recent stint in Birmingham has seen him form the bands Lokey and Bear Garden, as well as recording tracks with the legendary Dub Rokkas.

Drawing on influences as disparate as William Burroughs, Jim Morrison, Frank Sinatra, Bills Hicks and The Young Gods, Mr Cougar has already fashioned a name for himself on the underground circuit including gigs at club DiaboliquE, the Supersonic festival and the legendary Electric Cinema, as well as playing live for the Sonic Arts Network ("The Agents of Impurity", as broadcast on Resonance FM) and appearing on Brum net-radio, Mouth of God.

The Sons of Samuel Volcano release on 3 Pin features an archive of long-lost recordings from Frank Cougar's projects while based in London towards the turn of the Century. All the original recordings of these tracks have now been destroyed, leaving Frank's original (first generation) analogue tapes as the only surviving memoir of this music - comprising four tracks from the original Sons of Samuel Volcano (obvious from their resolutely lo-fi sound: the progressive, drum machine-based crunch-fest Lavonia, Frank's beautiful acoustic lament The Late Show, Down Crow Road and fuzz-heaven GI Blues For Two), three tracks excerpted from the Soundtracks album (the apoclyptic Let The Sun Fall, the obligatory - although excellent - spoken word track The Clown Breaks and the original version of the Frank Cougar live classic Elephant), and, crowning the set: the track Endeavour, the greatest pop song never heard; legend has it that this piece, recorded in a 48 track London studio, won Frank a four album deal with Sony over five years ago...or would have, if Frank had been willing to accept the emasculating terms they demanded.

All these tracks have been remastered at 3 Pin Labs to retain the original crunchiness that we loved from Frank's tapes but also to make them as listenable as possible for the modern connoisseur.

Not to be missed, this is a time capsule which was too far ahead of its time to be understood when originally recorded.

Frank Cougar is also one half of Sitcom Future Family, a collaboration with DisinVectant's The Egg plant

Discography:

Live at the Talbot Hotel (Experimental Seafood)

Sons of Samuel Volcano - Two Brothers CD (VHF003)

tracks can also be streamed from soundclick
and Frank Cougar's new material can be heard at myspace.com/frankcougar

read poems and lyrics by Frank Cougar