The song, written about being an underachiever, received positive critical reviews. However, it also prompted a lawsuit from the publishers of The Stranglers, who claimed that Elastica took the song’s riff from The Stranglers’ “No More Heroes”. The case was settled out of court.

“Waking Up” is a song about being an underachiever, in which writer-vocalist Justine Frischmann “exorcises her personal malaise” with the lines: “I’d work very hard but I’m lazy/I’ve got a lot of songs but they’re all in my head/I’ll get a guitar and a lover who pays me/If I can’t be a star I won’t get out of bed.” Damon Albarn contributed keyboards to the song.

n mid-1992, ex-Suede band members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch decided to form a group. By the autumn of that year, bassist Annie Holland and guitarist Donna Matthews were added. After initially gigging under names such as “Onk”, the band settled on the name “Elastica” in October 1992. Elastica released their first single, “Stutter,” in October 1993, which benefited from the promotional efforts of BBC Radio 1 DJ and Deceptive Recordslabel boss Steve Lamacq, who had discovered the band earlier in the year. In 1994, Elastica released two UK Top 20 singles (“Line Up” and “Connection”) and performed on numerous radio shows. In addition, Frischmann’s relationship with  Blur frontman Damon Albarn made tabloid headlines.

Elastica’s first LP, Elastica, was released in March 1995, and entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1; it became the fastest-selling debut album since Oasis’ Definitely Maybe. This record was held for over ten years when it was surpassed by the Arctic Monkeys’ debut record in 2006.  The album was preceded by their fourth single “Waking Up” which went to No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart, their highest placing therein.

The band became subject to controversy when several bands sued them for plagiarism. Specifically, the post-punk band Wire (whom Elastica counted as one of their main influences) claimed that many of the band’s melodies were taken from Wire compositions, as well as by The Stranglers. Notably, Wire’s “I Am the Fly” has a chorus similar to Elastica’s “Line Up” and the intro synthesizer part in Elastica’s “Connection” (later also repeated on guitar) is lifted from the guitar riff in Wire’s “Three Girl Rhumba” and transposed a semitone, and The Stranglers also passed comment that Elastica’s “Waking Up” bore a marked resemblance to their song “No More Heroes”. The disputes were resolved by out-of-court settlements.

In the US, “Connection” and “Stutter” received airplay on modern rock radio and also both charted on the pop charts, as did their debut album (which was later certified gold). After performing at the 1995 Glastonbury Festival, the band joined the Lollapalooza tour continuing an almost solid year of constant gigs. Citing exhaustion, original bassist Annie Holland quit the band in early August 1995 and was replaced for the remainder of the tour by session bassist Abby Travis. Holland was not permanently replaced until the arrival of Sheila Chipperfield in the spring of 1996. Also around this time keyboardist David Bush (ex-The Fall) was added to the line-up.

After playing more shows and demoing new material in the first half of 1996, Elastica entered the studio in the later part of the year to begin work on their second album. By late 1998 Matthews had left the band. She was replaced by guitarist Paul Jones and keyboardist Sharon Mew. Also around this time Chipperfield was replaced with a returning Annie Holland.

As a tribute to the “lost years” of the band, a self-titled six-track EP appeared in August 1999, collecting a variety of recordings from a multitude of aborted sessions. This EP marked the first new material from the band in over four years. After re-recording most of these songs in mid-1999, along with new compositions, the band played their first set of shows in years. Their second proper album, The Menace, was released in April 2000. After the release of the farewell single “The Bitch Don’t Work” in 2001, the band announced their amicable break-up.

Past members

• Justine Frischmann – vocals and guitar (1992–2001)
• Justin Welch – drums (1992–2001)
• Donna Matthews – guitar and vocals (1992–1998)
• Annie Holland – bass (1992–1995, 1999–2001)
• David Bush – keyboards (1996–2001)
• Sheila Chipperfield – bass (1996–1998)
• Paul Jones – guitar (1998–2001)
• Sharon Mew – keyboards and vocals (1999–2001)

Guest/Touring musicians

• Abby Travis – bass (touring, 1995–1996)
• Damon Albarn – keyboards (1995, 1999; credited under the anagrammatical pseudonyms “Dan Abnormal” on Elastica and as “Norman Balda” on The Menace)
• Antony Genn – keyboards (1995–1996; touring)

Discography