Hood

by Jason Ankeny The Leeds, England-based lo-fi bliss-popsters Hood comprised Andrew Johnson, Chris Adams, Richard Adams, John Evans, Craig Tattersall and Nicola Hodgkinson. The group debuted in 1992 with the seven-inch Sirens; after 1993s Opening into Enclosure, a year later they issued Cabled Linear Traction, which collected their two earlier singles. Absent throughout 1995, the year following Hood returned with a barrage of new material — after three singles (Lee Faust Million Piece Orchestra, A Harbour of Thoughts and Ive Forgotten How to Live, all of them issued on different labels), the group also released the full-length Silent 88. Secrets Now Known to Others, a ten-track EP of material recorded for but not included on Silent 88, appeared in 1997, as did the album Structured Disasters. Though it wasnt released in America, The Cycle of Days and Seasons followed on Domino in 1999. They returned in 2001 with the Home Is Where It Hurts EP, which was the groups first American release in four years and showcased their increasingly electronic direction. They continued in that direction on Cold House, a bleak and experimental effort released the same year. Late in 2004, the Lost You EP arrived in anticipation of 2005s Outside Closer.