We're a pub friendship with songs attached': deadpan dazzlers Black Box Recorder return, thanks to Billie Eilish

"Our daughter said to us, Have you heard of Billie Eilish?' His response was not what she was expecting. Yes, he said. She's fucked up our retirement. This spring, he, Luke Haines and vocalist Sarah Nixey will return to the stage for the first time since 2009, in part thanks to their streaming numbers going stratospheric after Eilish posted videos of herself listening to their 1998 debut single Child Psychology."

"The song, about a disruptive girl who has refused to speak, been expelled from school and fallen out with her family, is typical of Black Box Recorder's obsession with psychological breakdown in a peculiarly English, often suburban and middle-class setting: stories related by Nixey in her sparkling yet deadpan vocals."

"Haines, who had a measure of Britpop-adjacent success with his band the Auteurs, and Moore, who had been the drummer for the Jesus and Mary Chain, dreamed up an avant-noise project that would release one song called Black Box Recorder: a recording of a slowed-down washing machine that was supposed to sound like an air crash."

Black Box Recorder, formed in the late 1990s by Luke Haines, John Moore, and Sarah Nixey, specialized in darkly comedic narratives about psychological breakdown in English suburban and middle-class settings. The band achieved UK Top 20 success with their 2000 single 'The Facts of Life' and released three distinctive albums before disbanding. Their 1998 debut 'Child Psychology' recently experienced a resurgence after Billie Eilish posted videos listening to the track, causing their streaming numbers to skyrocket. This unexpected revival has prompted the trio to reunite for live performances in spring, marking their first stage appearance since 2009. The band originated from a pub friendship between Haines and Moore, who recruited Nixey as vocalist.

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