Bronco Bullfrog - Oak Apple Day (2004)

The three members of the Leicester and London-based Bronco Bullfrog -- Andy Morten (drums, vocal), Mike Poulson (vocal, guitar), and Louis Wiggett (bass, vocal) -- came together after playing in various "neo-'60s" beat/psych bands. They decided to combine their musical interests -- which include the usual power pop suspects, i.e. Big Star, Raspberries, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Who, the Hollies, etc., not to mention a growing love for Southern California canyon rock bands like the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield -- into one group. Taking their name from an obscure and gritty late-'60s English movie (starring actor Sam Shepard in the title role), Bronco Bullfrog eventually began recording at Y Studios in Leicester between September 1996 and February 1998. These recordings were later collected as their self-titled debut and released by the U.K.-based Twist Records in 1998. A follow-up, seventhirtyeight, was issued by Twist in 2000. After its release, the Madrid, Spain-based Mushroom Pillow Records reissued the band's first album on October 1, 2000, and in February 2000, released The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker, which was recorded by Liam Watson at London's Toe Rag Studios.