These Immortal Souls

'You can't give somebody a set of lyrics and tell them what to sing if you want any kind of sincerity,' Rowland S. Howard explained. Frozen out of Crime & the City Solution, he turned what had seemed a solo side project into a proper band in London in 1987, so he could voice his own songs.

Their records are dark and menacing: his guitar and vocals prowl through tracks that swing between full-tilt rock and spare, eerie stillness. 'Marry Me (Lie! Lie!)' heralded Get Lost (Don't Lie!) on Mute that October, and I'm Never Gonna Die Again arrived in 1992 with 'King of Kalifornia'.

Relocating to Melbourne in 1995, they played only sporadically before a final show at St Kilda's Greyhound Hotel in July 1998. Drummer Epic Soundtracks had died the previous November; their frontman followed in 2009.