Stuff From the Midlands

Band: The Wonder Stuff.

Personnel: Martin Gilks, drums; Miles Hunt, vocals, guitar; Malcolm Treece, guitar, vocals; Rob Jones, bass.

History: The Wonder Stuff hails from England’s Midlands and never would have come into being if there had been “10 or 15 bands around that I felt I could be a fan of,” according to Hunt. But there weren’t--at least not in April, 1986, when Hunt began writing songs with Treece, who brought along his friend Gilks. Soon Jones, an old pal of Hunt’s, joined to fill out the quartet and the band was asked to play at a club in the West Midlands. That led to more club engagements, and in 1987 the group issued two singles, “Wonderful Day” and “Unbearable,” on its own Far Out label. The latter was successful on England’s independent charts and the band--which had never sent out any tapes to record companies--found itself being pursued by several major labels. Ultimately it signed with Polydor/Polygram, which released the debut album “The Eight-Legged Groove Machine” in January.

Sound: The album’s title is a fair description, as the Wonder Stuff sounds something like Robyn Hitchcock’s little brother’s garage band might. Never as delicate or deep as the Hitch often is, the Stuff’s stuff is nonetheless tuneful, thoughtful, romping fun--though occasionally the paeans to trippy roots get a little treacly. Topics tend to be a bit gloomy, ranging from greed to despair, yet all the while the suitably garagey guitars and Hunt’s elastic everyman voice keep a sunny feeling. As Hunt said in the band’s bio, “If you can’t sing along with it, it’s a load of bollocks.”

Where: Saturday at the Club With No Name, May 2 at the Whisky.