An
alternative rock band out of
England named in honor of filmmaker
Gus Van Sant's
indie classic
Drugstore Cowboy. Their self-titled
debut album released in March of 1995 under independent label
Go! Discs had British critics spewing praise. Shortly after, though,
Go! Discs hit problems with its parent company and so their next single took over 2 years to finally be released by
Roadrunner Records. This single, and still to this day their only to get into the top 20 charts, was the
Pinochet bashing "
El President" - a
duet between the band's
vocalist Isabel Monteiro and
Radiohead's
Thom Yorke. The two are a perfect vocal combination and the song is
IMHO a
masterpiece.
Soon after "El President", Drugstore released their second album titled "White Magic For Lovers" in June of 1998. While not of the same caliber as their first album, White Magic also received much acclaim. Their second most popular single, "Sober" was released before they were dropped by Roadrunner Records. Drugstore was once again forced to delay plans for another album until joining Global Warming Records and releasing their much underappreciated "Songs for the Jet Set" in January of 2001. While only recorded in an amazing 10 days and to most fans sounding better than the previous albums, "Songs for the Jet Set" didn't receive the attention the other two had.
"Please listen to this music in the dark, with your headphones on loud, very isolated from the rest of the world. Because it is not 'today' music, it's more of a time that exists in your head"
--Isabel Monteiro of Drugstore
Fans of the likes of Radiohead and the Smashing Pumpkins will truely appreciate Drugstore's sound. At the very least, everyone should listen to "El President" at least once.