Sneaker Pimps
Sneaker Pimps is a British trip-hop band formed in Reading, England in 1995. They are best known for their first album Becoming X, released in 1996 and particularly its singles "6 Underground", "Spin Spin Sugar" and "Tesko Suicide".
The band's founding members were Chris Corner and Liam Howe (both ex-DJs), who then recruited Kelli Dayton (formerly of Lumieres, now recording under the name Kelli Ali) for vocal duties. After the first album, the band felt that demos for second album (on which Corner provided the guide vocals) fit his voice better, especially with regard to the rawer and more personal quality of the lyrics. Combined with the fear of being identified with the fad for trip-hop acts (i.e. Portishead), Kelli was asked to leave the group and Corner became the singer.
Dayton's departure, while lamented by many, was well received by critics who felt that it gave the band a more honest, emotional timbre. It has also helped curb the inevitable comparisons with Portishead. Many fans feel that the songs on subsequent Sneaker Pimps albums, Splinter and Bloodsport, have lost the sometimes creepy bubblegum feel and have gained an emotional intensity, while some enjoyed Dayton's vocals precisely because of that feel.
In 2005, the song "Post-Modern Sleaze" (from the Becoming X album) was used as the theme song for Matroesjka's, an acclaimed Flemish drama series about Eastern European prostitutes and Belgians involved in the related sex trade.
Currently the band are recording material for an as-yet untitled fifth album, after shelving a fourth album of songs previewed live during 2003, and having recruited a new, as-yet unknown, female singer. Some of the fourth album songs have been turned into I Am X songs as part of Chris Corner's side project. In late 2006, it emerged that seven demos for SP5 had been found and leaked from a portable music player left in a Russian bar, believed to be Chris's. The demos, including "Samaritan", "Sun Ate The Moon", and "The Shutdown", are all vocalled by the new singer, and show a lighter poppier sound than ever before - described by some fans on the sneakerpimps.be forums as the "hangover" to Splinter's brooding trip and Bloodsport's excessive partying. The band have not yet commented on the leak of the songs.
At one point the band were also working on producing remastered versions of Becoming X and Splinter into 5.1 surround versions, with Chris providing new vocal tracks for Splinter. However, with all Sneaker Pimps members working on new projects and monetary/time pressures in abundance, it is unclear whether they will ever be released; the original 2005 date has slipped to "before Christmas 2007".
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