The Indelicates

The Indelicates are a Sussex-based English indie rock band. Formed in 2005 by Julia and Simon Indelicate, the band's songs are known for their mix of dark, cynical lyrics and tuneful rock melodies. The Indelicates came to attention with their early demos, which were released for free on their website. The band signed to independent record label Sad Gnome Records in 2006 and released several singles and an EP. After leaving Sad Gnome in 2007, the band signed to another independent label, Weekender Records, which issued their first album, American Demo, in 2008. After Weekender found itself in financial difficulty, the Indelicates asked to be released from their contract. In 2010, the band formed Corporate Records, through which artists could sell their own work on a pay-what-you-like basis and retain the bulk of the profits. The band's first release through the label was Songs for Swinging Lovers in 2010. Four more albums followed, including the concept album David Koresh Superstar in 2011, based on the life of Branch Davidian religious sect leader David Koresh. Their most recent album was released in 2025, Avenue Qanon. The Indelicates are also known for their innovative and progressive marketing techniques, including crowdfunding their fourth album before Kickstarter had a UK presence, "Super Special Editions", and virtual reality and 360-degree music videos. The band remain favourites in the blogosphere, but although they received positive notices in the mainstream music press and achieved some popularity in Germany, they have never had a breakout hit. While Simon and Julia have been ever-present, the Indelicates have featured several line-ups since their formation, sometimes with a rotating roster of backing musicians for live shows, which they continue to perform in the UK and Europe. The Indelicates were formed in 2005 in Brighton, UK, by Julia and Simon Indelicate, who had met five years previously at a poetry slam. The pair created several independent and joint artistic projects, which they promoted through their individual MySpace pages. Julia was also a documentary photographer and Simon had been a performance poet on the cabaret circuit. Simon also wrote a musical based on the Book of Job. In 2003, Julia co-founded indie pop band The Pipettes, but left in early 2005 to form the Indelicates with Simon. The band began playing venues in September 2005, with a line-up that initially consisted of Julia on vocals and piano, Simon on vocals and guitar, Jack Stone on drums, Kate Newberry on bass guitar, and Alastair Clayton on rhythm guitar. Ed Van Beinum later took over from Stone. "Neo-Brecht/Weill theatricality? Check. Profane razor strop wit? Check. Irreverent misanthropy? Check. Scathing socio-cultural critiques? Check. Acid sweet indiepop songcraft? Check. Meet the first Great band of 2006, the fabulously unfashionable, unfashionably fabulous Indelicates." — Michael Krugman and Jason Cohen in Rolling Stone, December 2005. In late 2005, the band released several songs as free downloads on its own website, including "Waiting for Pete Doherty to Die". The song helped the Indelicates build a fanbase, but was also a source of "controversy and misunderstanding". Dan Hancox in New Statesman described it as "attention-seekingly controversial", and Julia stated that the band received a lot of letters and e-mails attacking the band over the song. She described these as coming from people who had only seen the title. Simon said of the reaction, "I have never met [Pete Doherty], nor have I ever written a song about him (though I may have written a song about people who subsequently thought I had)." Simon also said that some fans of Babyshambles (Pete Doherty's band at the time) attended the Indelicates' concerts to find out how hateful they were, only to learn that the intent of the song was not about wishing Doherty would die, but about the "hypocritical" media machine that profits from the deaths of musicians: "circling vultures waiting for the end". In its 2005 yearbook, NME chose the song as its "most controversial pick of the year". Hancox went on to praise "Waiting for Pete Doherty to Die" as "a bitter-sweet, folk-tinged bit of acoustic soul searching typical of this fascinating new band." Jetzt magazine said that the song captured the impression one would get from reading the English press that Doherty was on a death spiral and that with the song "media criticism, cynicism, nihilism and beautiful music come together perfectly". Author Neil Gaiman said of the song, "I was hooked in one, as they took apart, with bitter grace, the media/academic obsession with and delight in the downfall of stars and idols." The Indelicates also made available "Burn All the Photographs", "Vladimir" "Julia, We Don't Live in the 60s" and "New Art for the People". NME described "New Art for the People" as "stunning", and Exclaim! said that the song's "unmistakably twee ... delivery" made it "beguiling" and "distinctive". Q: "Where did the name 'The Indelicates' come from?" Simon: "I like the word because it sounds like exactly what it isn’t. Like most privatives, it contains the thing it describes an absence of – thus indicating its presence as a defining concept, even while signifying its opposite. Plus, it sounds kinda cool." Julia: "From Simon" — 2006 interview. The Indelicates' website also featured an early recording of "We Hate the Kids". In 2006, the Indelicates signed to independent record label Sad Gnome Records and on 24 July released "We Hate the Kids" through the label as a two-track 7" vinyl single (with "Burn all the Photographs" as a B-side) and four-track digital download (with additional remixes). The song was a re-recording of the original demo, which had been recorded in Alastair's bedroom and was removed from the band's site ahead of the release. The new version was produced by Keith Mahony and co-produced and mastered by Les Carter. It was Sad Gnome Records' first release. Hancox had called the first version of the song the Indelicates' "most exciting ... a cynical, disaffected, lo-fi anthem", and "We Hate the Kids" received positive reviews in NME and Rolling Stone. In 2012, "We Hate The Kids" was used on the soundtrack of German film Drei Zimmer/Küche/Bad (English title: Move), and in September 2020, God Is in the TV listed it at No. 67 in its list of 100 songs deserving to be rescued from the indie rock "landfill" era. The band's last release while signed to Sad Gnome was the EP "The Last Significant Statement To Be Made in Rock'n'Roll", on 12 February 2007. The six-track CD consisted of the title track, plus "Sixteen", "Heroin", acoustic track "Unity Mitford", live track "Stars" and a remix of the title track. The EP was released to tie-in with the Indelicates' tour of Germany in the same month. Jetzt chose "Sixteen" as one of the most interesting song releases of the week, calling Julia's vocals irresistible and complimenting the song's brevity. The magazine also praised the EP as a whole, in particular the way in which Julia and Simon "complement each other, support each other, drive each other on ... they harmonize so perfectly". Through 2007, the Indelicates had continued to play venues in the UK and Europe. In Germany they headlined several times and played support for Art Brut, whose lead singer, Eddie Argos, had previously called the Indelicates his favourite band. In April 2007, for British Music Week the German edition of Vanity Fair profiled "the most important" British bands that were playing German cities that year, calling the Indelicates' "We Hate The Kids" and "Waiting For Pete Doherty to Die" "so very brilliant". By mid-year, the Indelicates had left Sad Gnome to join another independent label, Weekender Records, and in July released "Julia, We Don't Live in the 60s" as a CD single and 7" vinyl. The latter featured "Point Me to the West" as a B-side, while the CD release added to that song a live version of "Unity Mitford".