Smilex

Smilex are an alternative rock group from Oxford, active from 2002. The line-up includes Jennifer Acton, Lee Christian, Tom Sharp, Pat Holmberg and Olivia Luce. The band plays rock and roll with a loud, riff-driven sound and a focus on energetic live performance.

Career

Smilex begin performing in 2002, and their second gig sees them escorted off site at a local commercial radio station summer event. After that, they play across the UK with acts including Forward Russia, The Datsuns, The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, Pretty Girls Make Graves and Jetplane Landing. They build a reputation on the live circuit as a band known for intense, chaotic shows.

Recordings

The band has three releases on Quickfix Recordings, a label associated with the debuts by Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies and Half Rabbits. They also release a split single with tour mates The Young Knives on Hanging Out With The Cool Kids. Smilex later issue the single Wet & Wild through the Akuaba_Records singles club. The release is produced by frontman Lee Christian, who is also associated with The Rock of Travolta, Lapsus Linguae and Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia. The single is backed by the tracks Babys Got Bored and Still Hanging Around, the latter self-recorded and described as more subdued than the rest of their material.

Reception and comparisons

Smilex attract both praise and criticism. Support comes from Drowned In Sound and XFM, and comments from Claire Sturgess, Logo Magazine, BBC Oxford and Nightshift Magazine describe the band as a tight punk-pop outfit with an aggressive edge and a strong live presence. They are also compared to The Stooges, The Pixies, Jane's Addiction and Mötley Crüe.