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Moonshake is a UK-based band formed in 1991 by David Callahan (vocals, guitars, samplers) following the dissolution of his former outfit The Wolfhounds - who were active for much of the second half of the 80s and, often associated with the C86 indie scene at the time, released several acclaimed albums of taut, fierce guitar pop and a dozen or so singles on a bewildering variety of labels. Taking the name from a Can single on the seminal Krautrockers' Future Days album, he recruited fellow members Margaret Fiedler (vocals, guitars, samplers), John Frenett (bass) and Mig Morland (drums, percussion) and were signed to Alan McGee's Creation Records for the debut First EP released in spring 1991.

At this point the band continued in their harsh guitar-FX direction that characterised a lot of the last The Wolfhounds recordings, drawing comparisons with Sonic Youth and especially My Bloody Valentine, whom the songs on this EP most resemble. The band soon jumped ship and signed to the emerging Too Pure label in London, home of PJ Harvey, Th' Faith Healers and Stereolab. Their first single for Too Pure, Secondhand Clothes showed a leaning towards the dub-bass-heavy post-punk sound of bands such as Public Image Limited and The Pop Group, and their debut album Eva Luna which followed in 1992 earned the group many positive reviews for its unique sample-driven and rhythmically-propulsive sound.

After an even more compelling mini-album Big Good Angel in 1993 the band split in half, with Fiedler and Frenett departing to form Laika with Eva Luna engineer Guy Fixsen, whilst remaining duo Callahan and Mig augmented the next incarnation with a host of guest musicians such as PJ Harvey, Lee Howton and Claire Lemmon of Sidi Bou Said, Katharine Gifford of Stereolab / Snowpony, Johnny Dawe from Collapsed Lung and Raymond Dickaty from Gallon Drunk, while completely eschewing guitars from their new sound. The resultant album The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow was released in 1994, a few months before Fiedler, Frenett and Fixsen followed with their debut as Laika.

Moonshake changed shape again for their final album in 1996 Dirty And Divine, which was released on the Seattle indie imprint C/Z Records (later licensed to a UK release through World Domination Recordings). Their ever-fluctuating line-up now included guest vocalists Tor and Mary Hansen (Stereolab) as well as Gifford and Dickaty, along with newcomers Matt Brewer, Michael Rother (not to be confused with the Neu! namesake) and Kevin Bass. Shortly after this album was released, Callahan relocated briefly to the US and effectively called time on the band in 1997. In recent years he has re-emerged, having returned to the UK, and set up a multimedia/DJ/music project called The Surplus! and even reunited with several former members of the Wolfhounds for live performances in late 2004. Callahan has also enjoyed brief cameos with fellow contemporaries Stereolab (performing French Disko with them on Channel 4's The Word in 1993) and the Stereolab spin-off project Turn On.

Contents 1 Discography 1.1 Singles 1.2 Albums 1.3 Compilation appearances 1.4 External links

• First EP (1991, Creation records)
• Secondhand Clothes EP (1991, Too Pure)
• Beautiful Pigeon (1992, Too Pure)
• Lola Lola b/w Always True To You In My Fashion (1995, Clawfist Singles Club)
• Cranes (1996, C/Z / World Domination)

• Eva Luna (1992, Too Pure / 1993, Matador-Atlantic)
• Big Good Angel (Mini-album) (1993, Too Pure / Matador)
• The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow (1994, Too Pure / American)
• Dirty And Divine (1996, C/Z-BMG / World Domination)
• Remixes (1997, C/Z)

• Beautiful Pigeon (1992, V/A "Independent Top 20 Volume 15", Beechwood Music; the track Night Tripper also appeared on a 7" single given away with the vinyl edition of this LP)
• Just A Working Girl (1994, V/A "Pop - Do We Not Like That?", Too Pure)
• Nothing But Time (1995, V/A "Volume 16 - Copulation Explosion")

• Access through the Wolfhounds website