Flying Saucer Attack

Flying Saucer Attack
Flying Saucer Attack outline
Background information
Origin	Bristol, England
Genres	Shoegazing, psychedelic rock, space rock, experimental rock, neo-psychedelia, noise rock, lo-fi
Years active	1992–2000, 2015–present
Labels	FSA Records, Domino Records
Associated acts	Movietone, Crescent, The Third Eye Foundation, Light, Amp
Members	David Pearce
Past members	Rachel Brook

Flying Saucer Attack is an English experimental space rock band that formed in Bristol, England in 1992. David Pearce was the core member of the group, and Rachel Brook (of Movietone, another Bristol band) was a member for most of the band's lifetime.

The band were marked by quiet vocals and sheets of feedback with similarities to contemporary shoegazing bands, or The Jesus and Mary Chain. FSA were able to create a small but enthusiastic fanbase as one of the more remarkable experimental bands of the day. The band were notable for recording most of their output at home into a normal home stereo system, avoiding recording studios as much as they could. This gave their music a DIY feel and gave them the freedom to experiment as much as they wanted.

Other allied bands, often sharing musicians, were Crescent, The Third Eye Foundation, Light and Amp. Pearce attended Farnham Art College in the late 1980s. Pearce collaborated in a variety of bands with Matt Elliott (the Third Eye Foundation), Richard Walker (Amp) and Rachel Brook and Kate Wright (future partners in Movietone), before forming FSA with Brook (his girlfriend at the time) in 1992. Brook continued to play with Movietone throughout the history of Flying Saucer Attack, and is still a member of that group.

Early releases were limited edition vinyl 7" singles, often in handmade packaging. The first album (self-titled, but sometimes called Rural Psychedelia as those words appear on the cover) included a noisy cover of Suede's contemporary single "The Drowners", which provoked press interest in the record. The Third Eye Foundation (Matt Elliott) played bongos, drums, programming and clarinet, & guitar on some tracks. Like the early singles, the album was released on FSA's own label by Heartbeat Productions, and was deliberately only made available on vinyl. Also like the singles it sold out quickly despite minimal publicity, due to the band's cult reputation. The album was released in the United States by VHF Records in early 1994, on CD and vinyl – the CD bore the legend "compact discs are a major cause of the breakdown of society" (other releases would carry messages such as "keep vinyl alive", "home taping is reinventing music" and "less is more").