Change Giver

Formed in 1990,[3] Shed Seven quickly gained a reputation for their live performances, having been banned from playing in a number of local music venues in their hometown of York, due to the "violent" nature of attendees at their gigs.[4] They soon focused their attention on London, playing a handful of live shows in the city's smaller venues—including both the Rock Garden and Bull and Gate—to audiences featuring key members of the British music business, such as BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq.[4] In September 1993, they were voted the third best live band at London's Inner City Festival—the first time an unsigned act had placed in the top three[3]—and appeared on BBC Radio 5's Hit The North programme.[3] In the same month they also performed at Manchester's In The City music festival, where they were awarded third place in the convention's Best Unsigned Band contest.[5] Their performance at the festival generated some national exposure, gaining them one of what would become a number of complimentary live reviews in the NME,[5][6][7][8] with the magazine simply stating: "They are brilliant."[5]

Following the positive response to their in the City showcase performance, Shed Seven found themselves amid a record label bidding war,[10] and eventually opted to sign a six-album major label deal with Polydor Records in October 1993.[11] A support slot for the Inspiral Carpets soon followed,[12] along with joint headline gigs with bands such as Compulsion[12][13] and Elastica,[13] as they were labelled "thrashy punk newcomers"[13] and were associated with the short-lived New Wave of New Wave scene.[1][14][15] Yet, by the time Change Giver was released five months later, they were seen in the British music press as being part of a vibrant, new movement in British music, spearheaded by acts like Suede,[16] a band who had personally invited Shed Seven to open their gig at Blackpool's Tower Ballroom on 11 February 1994.[8] Writing for The Guardian a month after the release of Change Giver, Caroline Sullivan summarised Shed Seven's role in the emergent scene, which was initially dubbed "lad-rock"[17] and would later come to be known as britpop; "With Oasis achieving a number one album and Shed Seven being praised everywhere, the good old unambiguous British guitar band could be making a comeback. Like Oasis, this York band are defiantly heterosexual, and brimming with what in a previous day would have been called arrogance, and is now known as 'attitude'."[18]

Shed Seven enjoyed a copious amount of praise for their music in the run up to the release of Change Giver. In March 1994, NME claimed that they were "worthy carriers of the baton that's passed through the hands of the Buzzcocks, The Smiths and The Stone Roses",[8] and The Guardian named them "this week's Next Big Things" in late-October,[19] highlighting the group as an alternative to the "musical thuggery" of other bands.[20] Melody Maker, many of whose writers had championed the band's cause from an early stage,[21] declared them one of "the UK's brightest hopes",[15] whilst The Independent claimed that they were "perhaps the spunkiest new British band".[1] Along with further positive reviews of their live shows,[20][22][23][24] much of the press attention received by the band drew musical comparisons with The Smiths,[8][15][21][25] a band who both Witter and Banks cited as making a "big influence" on them in their youth.[11]

Although they were seen to be musically relevant, Shed Seven were not beyond reproach as they were also met with a certain amount of discord in the British music press. Alongside the praise heaped on their live performances, came a wave of non-musical criticism aimed at the "foolish" things they said,[19] their haircuts and unfashionable dress sense,[9][20] through to their band and singer's names.[19][26] In a piece titled "Pretenders to the throne", charting British rock music's challengers to the crown then-held by Blur, The Guardian posed the question: "do they really expect to make it big with a singer called Rick Witter?".[26] By the time the record was finally issued in the UK in early September, both critical and public opinion on the band was somewhat divisive. As noted in Change Giver's Melody Maker review; "Everybody has an opinion on Shed Seven (...) It's love 'em or hate 'em time!".[21]

As the release of Change Giver grew nearer, animosity between Oasis and Shed Seven emerged. The two bands—who had played on the same bill in London and were touring France together as part of a small series of shows organised by a French magazine[22]—were seen as contemporaneous rivals[27][28] and had become embroiled in a war of words via sections of the British music press.[9][21][22][23] The feud was heightened by a comment from Noel Gallagher in an August 1994 issue of Melody Maker magazine.[23] Due to this growing rivalry, along with the positive response that had greeted the release of their debut double A side single "Mark"/"Casino Girl",[8][11][21] the fledgling band were seen to have set themselves a high standard to live up to.[21] Although Change Giver did receive some positive attention, featuring in a number of music publications end-of-year polls, it failed to gain the same scale of universal critical approval as that of Definitely Maybe, and was unable to match the unit sales of the then-record breaking debut album.

Shed Seven undertook four UK tours throughout 1994 in support of the album and its singles,[40] including a student-organised gig at St. Cuthbert's Roman Catholic School in Rochdale on 16 May.[24] On 9 June, they played at the Heineken Music Festival at Avenham Park, Preston, along with Inspiral Carpets and Baby Chaos.[41] They featured on the bill of 1994's Reading music festival on 27 August, performing a set on the Melody Maker Stage headlined by Madder Rose.[42] In November 1994, they embarked on a seven-date tour of France, beginning in Lille at the Aeronef on 2 November and ending at the Festival Be Bop'n Roll in Le Mans on 10 November. The tour was part of a small series of shows organised by Les Inrockuptibles magazine, and featured a number of other British acts, including Echobelly and Gene.[22] In February 1995, they returned to France to perform an eight-date tour with support from Dodgy,[43] and the following Summer they appeared at some of the UK's largest music festivals, including Glastonbury, where they played on the NME Stage on 23 June,[44] T in the Park on 6 August,[45] and again at Reading, where they performed on the Main Stage on 26 August.[46]

Following the release of the album's second single "Dolphin"—which sold 15,000 copies in its first week[3]—the band made their debut appearance at Top of the Pops on 23 June 1994.[47] On 27 September, they returned to BBC Radio where they had first featured as an unsigned band a year earlier, this time performing a full band four-song set as part of The Mark Radcliffe Show.[48] On 23 June 1995, highlights of the band's performance at Glastonbury Festival, along with Sinéad O'Connor and Dodgy, were shown as part of Channel 4's coverage of the event.[49]

Change Giver spent a total of two weeks in the UK Albums Chart in its release year, peaking at number 16 on 17 September 1994.[51] The album re-entered the chart in 1998, this time peaking at number 124 and remaining there for a sole week.[52]

Shed Seven's debut single, "Mark"/"Casino Girl", occupied the lower reaches of the UK Singles Chart, stalling at number 77 in March 1994. The following three releases—"Dolphin", "Speakeasy" and "Ocean Pie"—fared much better, beginning a run of fourteen consecutive UK Top 40 singles for the group.[2] Each of the three songs entered the chart at number 33 or higher, with their then-biggest hit, "Speakeasy", reaching number 24 in August 1994.[2]