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On this day, 13 March 1989, English neo-psychedelia band Spacemen 3 played Cardiff’s Venue club following the release of their eagerly awaited Playing with Fire album.
The album's front cover sleeve bore the slogan, "Purity, Love, Suicide, Accuracy, Revolution". Playing with Fire was Spacemen 3's first record to chart and one of the breakthrough indie albums of the year.
Within weeks of its release, it was No. 1 in both the NME and Melody Maker indie charts. It was "their most critically and commercially successful album" (Stephen Erlewine, AllMusic).
Reviews were extremely positive and the album garnered wide critical acclaim.
Formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psychedelia" consisting of heavily distorted guitar, synthesizer, and minimal chord or tempo changes.
Spacemen 3 had their first independent chart hits in 1987, gaining a cult following, and going on to have greater success towards the end of the decade. However, they disbanded shortly afterwards, releasing their final studio album post-split in 1991 after an acrimonious parting of ways.
They gained a reputation as a 'drug band' due to the members' drug-taking habits and Kember's candid interviews and outspoken opinions on recreational drug use. Kember and Pierce were the only members common to all line-ups of the band. Pierce has enjoyed considerable success with his subsequent project Spiritualized.
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