Hellfire Sermons were formed in Liverpool, England in 1987 largely from the ashes of another Liverpool band, The Decemberists, who had flirted with C86 recognition and supported a pre-bombastic James during an all-too-brief period in the indie spotlight.
Singer and guitarist Colin Pennington, bassist Andy Ford and guitarist Andy Deevey were joined on drums by drummer Chris Harrison - recruited from another Merseyside group, Jenny Lind - to form the first Hellfire Sermons line-up.
The self-financed single "Freak Storm" (b/w "Rachel Clean"), HYM187, was released on Hyme Records in 1987 and soon attracted the interest of then NME journalist, later St. Etienne man, Bob Stanley. Bob reviewed the single in the music paper as part of a Merseyside double-bill with Shack and concluded that the "unknown quantity" Sermons were "the group most likely to come up with the next 'Sun Shines Here' and that is a mighty recommendation."
By the time the Hellfire Sermons second single was released a year later, their drum stool had resembled a revolving door and guitarist Deevey had also departed for London to be replaced by another former Jenny Lind member, Neal Carr.
Amid the line-up upheaval, the Hellfires had still managed to get recruited to the now-legendary Esurient Communications stable and the single "H.O.N.E.Y.M.O.O.N" (b/w "Quicksand", "Penny-Pinching Cathy"), PACE 6, was released, again to limited critical acclaim. The Melody Maker of December 16 1989 proclaimed the limited-edition 7" single "an understated pop classic" and drew comparisons to early-Creation artists such as the Jasmine Minks and Biff! Bang! Pow! as well as Hurrah!
Live reviews around this time in several of the 'inkies' reiterated these comparisons, but more accurately identified that in common with the other bands on the Esurient roster, Emily and The Claim, the Hellfire Sermons were doggedly determined to follow their own musical direction, even if that meant being hopelessly out-of-step with where the indie mainstream had strayed to at this time.
The conditions that dictated that Hellfire drummers soon developed cold feet didn't seem to improve, though, and as the band prepared to enter the studio again to produce another 7", Roger McLoughlin (right), who had played on "H.O.N.E.Y.M.O.O.N" announced his intention to travel around the world for a year.
Roger laid the initial drum tracks on "The Best Laugh I Ever Had" / "Not Nailed Down" (PACE 9) double A-sided single before jetting off on his worldwide adventure. His replacement Alan Creevy was already lined up and joined the recording sessions, adding some percussion to the tracks.
The recording process on "The Best Laugh…" turned out to be a protracted affair as the band and their engineer / producer Ken Nelson (later to produce the Mercury Prize-winning "Bring It On" by Gomez, as well as both Coldplay albums, to great acclaim) took the opportunity to grab some cheap studio time in the evenings and at weekends. For the band, the result was a polished and multi-layered recording, for Ken it was the chance to develop his trade with people who knew.
In between the beginning of the recording of this third single and its eventual release in the summer of 1991, the band played numerous gigs in Liverpool and London. The most memorable of these being the band's first with Alan on drums. On a balmy July's evening on London's Foley Street in 1990, the band were four songs into what was already promising to be a storming set when the landlord of the venue incredibly pulled the plug… apparently denying all knowledge of having hired out his upstairs room for an evening's entertainment.
After much farce and argument, the band and the gathered audience eventually retired to the street outside the pub and "Not Nailed Down", which had been so suddenly disrupted upstairs, was completed acoustically before the band piled into the van for the long journey north. None of this was to the satisfaction of the watching Sounds reviewer, however, who wrote: "Instead of launching him headlong from an upstairs window in sacrifice to the God of Pop, the band acquiesce and lay down their guitars grudgingly amid plentiful pleas for the quality of Mersey. To no avail."
Hellfire Sermons' "The Best Laugh I Ever Had" / "Not Nailed Down" was released on the same day as label-mates The Claim's "Sunday" / "Sporting Life". Though the reviews were good, this dual-pronged assault didn't create quite the splash that Esurient founder Kevin Pearce had hoped for and when a crucial London showcase gig for these two bands and Last Party fell through at the eleventh hour, Kevin's resolve seemed to have been broken, and Esurient was no more.
It has been asked whether it was self-confidence, blind optimism or just plain ignorance in the wake of this news that drove the Hellfire Sermons on to a period of relatively prolific songwriting. Similarly, people have asked whether it was a sense of bitterness, frustration or a feeling of isolation that simultaneously saw the band adopt a rougher-edged, more acerbic approach to this writing. While all these feelings were probably shared by the band around 1991 - not necessarily in equal or even significant measures - the truth is that they were probably evolving in this direction anyway.
As luck would have it, a veteran of those Esurient London shows, the coincidentally named Guy Sirman, was looking to set up his own label much in the image of Kevin Pearce's. Having heard a raw, practice studio demo produced by Hellfire Sermons early in 1992, Guy invited the band to produce a fourth 500-issue 7" single.
The first single on Guy's new Dishy label, "Covered In Love" (b/w "Sacred Skin"), DISHY 001, was, in contrast to the Hellfires' previous single, recorded over just two days as part of a seven-song session. The bass, drums and guitars were mostly recorded together live in an effort to capture the raw dynamics of these new songs and they sounded all the better for it.
Released towards the end of the year, the single was named Melody Maker's Single of the Week on December 5th 1992 and the same reviewer who had three years earlier compared the band to Hurrah! was now citing "early Manics, the first Scars single and someone abrasive as the Fire Engines" as reference points.
"This is music with menaces," Everett True concluded. "F***in' magnificent."
With nothing in the way of promotional machinery behind them, it was never likely that the Hellfire Sermons would cash in to any extent on this critical boost and though the single went on to sell all of its limited pressing of 500, they were soon largely back to being "household names in only a very few households". A handful of relatively mid-profile shows at the Camden Monarch and the Tufnell Park Dome was about as 'good' as it got in 1993 on the back of this single.
All the other five songs recorded during the "Covered In Love" session made it on to various fanzine compilations, notably "Callaghan" which was released on a free flexidisc with the "Soul Food" wraparound 'zine and "Bill And Sarah" on the anti-fascist compilation LP "Calling At Duke Street" (A Turntable Friend - TURN 16).
By the end of the year another four new songs had been recorded in the studio as a follow-up to "Covered In Love". Working again with Ken Nelson, the single "Sarasine" (b/w "No Hands"), DISHY TWO, came out in hand-painted, individually-numbered sleeves and again received favourable reviews at the beginning of 1994, backed by a Melody Maker feature.
Despite enjoying their fair share of national, and occasionally international, acknowledgement, the Hellfires remained something of a maverick force locally on Merseyside. The local gigs were often low-key affairs and though they received a degree of recognition in the Liverpool press they were spared the level of hype and overexposure that numerous other bands received but hadn't a hope of living up to. A support slot with Cornershop briefly put Hellfire Sermons in the local limelight, but otherwise it was back to relative obscurity - in fact, they have played only once in their hometown since, to date; at The Black Horse and Rainbow in 1995.
By this point, and not for the first time, Hellfire Sermons had amassed enough material for a long-awaited and much overdue long-player. Possibly for the first time, though, it seemed as though they had a label willing to support them in making it happen. They entered the studio again with Ken Nelson and, following the recording style used to such good effect on the "Covered In Love" sessions, laid down the basic tracks to nine songs live.
Only two of these tracks were subsequently completed; the intention being to release a single prior to completing the album. Unfortunately, Guy's Dishy label had moved on since the release of "Sarasine" and was achieving success with other releases, especially in the dance music market. "Cock O' The Street" and "Uncle Oliver" didn't seem to fit in with Dishy's new identity and Guy refused to release it.
With no outlet for releasing material and with Colin now living and working in the south east, the band's enthusiasm, not to mention rehearsal time, had probably reached an all-time low. They still got together whenever possible, though - socially and musically - and even managed to compile a roughly-rehearsed set for a gig in Lincoln in late 1998 with ex-Lurker Arturo Bassick.
Now down to a three-piece in 2002 with Colin enjoying an extended sabbatical from band activities, the release of the compilation LP on The Bus Stop Label "Hymns: Ancient And Modern" is perfectly-timed to put a full-stop on the end of that chapter of the band history.
With burgeoning enthusiasm and no shortage of ideas, Neal, Andy and Alan are having to hone the Hellfire sound somewhat to compensate for the gaps caused by Colin's absence. But with geography no longer working against regular rehearsals, the three-piece is beginning to develop and no fewer than 12 songs can currently be referred to as 'works in progress'.
Keep checking www.hellfiresermons.co.uk for updates on that progress.