The Animalhouse
After leaving Ride, Gardener released the limited edition single "Magdalen Sky" on the Shifty Disco label in June 1997. This was part of the label's Single of the Month club, and was limited to 1000 copies only. It featured a rare B-side "Can't Let It Die (Home Demo In The Attic)". "Magdalen Sky" was featured on the year-end single compilation It's a Shifty Disco Thing Vol. 1. In April of that same year, Supergrass producer Sam Williams released a Shifty Disco single of the month Blah Na Na. Gardener and Williams played this song at a Gardener solo show in May, an event that led to the founding of The Animalhouse.
In late 1997, Gardener and Ride drummer (and budding songwriter) Loz Colbert joined with Williams and bassist Hari T to form The Animalhouse. The band began playing live shows, and received a good bit of attention from the music press as well as fans for its unique fusion of 60's style psychedelica, Britrock, and electronics.
Unfortunately, due to a variety of reasons legal and label related, the band did not release material until April 2000's Small EP. The album Ready To Receive followed in September, to great success in Japan, but limited success elsewhere. The long start up time, combined with label distribution and marketing issues, contributed to the disappointing sales, and the band soon disbanded afterward.
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