Dead Flowers

Dead Flowers

Dead Flowers are a Newcastle upon Tyne group active from 1984 and associated with psychedelic rock, space rock and alternative rock. The name is used by more than one act, including an Auckland, New Zealand alternative-rock-pop band, but the Newcastle group is the one described as a long-running acid rock band.

Early releases and local scene

The band begins with a privately pressed TV single made up of two hard-rock tracks. After several years of local obscurity, it signs to Brian Sutton’s Mystic Stones label and releases the album Smell The Fragrance. That record includes songs such as Absolution, Crackdown and Piece Of Sky, and an alternate “grunge” mix of Crackdown also appears on the Underground Newcastle compilation.

Moontan and psychedelic period

The 1992 album Moontan is described as a key release in the band’s catalogue. Its opening track, Chocolate Staircase, uses the riff from Pink Floyd’s Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun. The album also includes spacey and ambient passages on tracks such as Spiral Eye and Gaia’s Love Hole, alongside heavier material including Filling In Time and Thought World. A different version of Chocolate Staircase also appears on the Delerium compilation Fun With Mushrooms, which brings the band to a wider audience.

Altered State Circus and later work

After Moontan, Delerium releases the band’s third album, Altered State Circus, recorded at Dave Anderson’s Foel studios. The album develops the band’s slower, more ambient textures across six extended tracks. Named tracks include The Elephant’s Eye Was Eerie, Altered State Circus, Slouch Factor 9 and Free the Weed; the CD edition also includes the thirteen-minute Vodafone In Oz. The track Warmth Within (Chemical Binoculars) appears on the Delerium sampler Pick ’n’ Mix.

Split and aftermath

The band splits after the release of Altered State Circus. Steev Swayambhunath later forms the ambient dance project Cubic Space Collective. The band’s earlier material is often compared to an updated, druggy Black Sabbath or an English Monster Magnet, and it is noted for moving from heavier hard rock into more psychedelic and ambient territory.