An arguably long overdue debut for The Leopards on this blog. I’ll get round to explaining why.
They initially consisted of Mick Slaven (guitar/lead vocals), Campbell Owens (bass/vocals) and Skip Reid (drums/vocals) and formed in the mid-90s. Their music is best described as a mix of surf-punk and indie rock and their pedigree is quite the thing. Mick Slaven is, without question, one of the most underrated guitarists ever to come out of Scotland having been with Jazzateers and Bourgie Bourgie, while Campbell Owens was with Aztec Camera during the Postcard era and the first two studio albums in the early-mid 80s. They signed to Creeping Bent Records, with debut album They Tried To Stay Calm, being released in 1997. John Peel was a fan, and is said to have compared Slaven’s guitar playing to that of Link Wray and Robert Quine, leading to two sessions in 1997 and 1998.
In later years, The Leopards, with other members coming and going (although Slaven and Owens were always involved) would play with the likes of James Kirk, Paul Haig, Paul Quinn, Malcolm Ross, Vic Godard, & Lloyd Cole, and in the case of the last of those just mentioned, there would be tours in 2014 and 2016, and an album, Lloyd Cole & The Leopards – Live At The Brooklyn Bowl receiving a release towards the end of 2016.
It has only been relatively recently that I’ve picked up digital copies of their music, thanks to my Patreon membership of Creeping Bent over the final few years of that label’s existence, which is why I’ve never, until now, posted anything.
JC
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 