Gene

Gene乐队的主唱马丁·鲁思特（Martin Rossiter）有一次酒不醉人人自醉似地俳徊在一家摇滚酒吧里，向同座的陌生人诉说着自己的苦衷："所有的乐评都冲着我们来了，把我们这帮93年才开始扎起营寨的懒鬼说成是野心勃勃的莽汉！天？！谁有心思去操那份心！难道我们是投机取巧者？真是一言难尽……"
Gene这支来自伦敦的四人前卫乐队尽管没有刻意地"投机"、"讨好"过谁，但是乐评界还是象轻视一切突然冒升的新手或水平低劣的模仿者那样把这支乐队划入了"The Smiths的卡拉 OK版"之列。 Gene 乐队队名取自50年代有"乐坛坏孩子"之称的吉尼·文森特（ Gene Vincent）和摇滚乐人吉尼·皮特尼（ Gene pitney）。无论从主观还是客观上而言，这支乐队都属于70年代中期那种"闭门造车"的地下摇滚乐队。
这是Gene的自我定位，主唱手马丁看来已不屑就乐评界的非难进行辩驳了。1993年，乐队的首张专辑《 Olympian》（奥林匹亚）继承了The Smiths乐队的遗风，那种附庸风雅却又坚韧不拔的音乐色彩直至歌的名字都与The Smiths如出一辙。而Gene 的第二张专辑《Drawn To The Deep End》（拉到尽头了）让许多人误以为是The Smiths早期作品的重版。不过，马丁对于众多的"为什么"还是作了回答，这就是"俺乐意"。
作为乐队主唱手的马丁在整个乐队中有着举足轻重的影响，而对马丁有着举足轻重影响的倒不是The Smiths这支老牌摇滚乐队，而是一支不出名的流行乐队-- Redskins（红皮）。"我是听了'红皮'的音乐才发觉流行乐的惊人影响力的。"在买了"红皮"的11盒专辑后，他便开始向队友灌输"红皮"知识。马丁第一次音乐方面尝试就是组建了一支模仿'红皮'乐队的流行乐乐队 Drop（水滴），并但任键盘手。那时他的作品类似于Boy George和"宠物店男孩"。一次偶然的机会，马丁在一家迪斯科舞厅里碰上了地下乐队Spin（晕眩）的史蒂夫和另一乐手迈特·詹姆斯（ Matt James）。当时小有名气的"晕眩"乐队在英国的巡演中遭遇了车祸，史蒂夫那个担当贝司手的弟弟严重脑震荡，乐队产生人员危机而面临解散，史蒂夫不得不面对乐队的去留和 个人发展的问题。此时，两个如天兵似的人物出现了，一个是前The Smiths 的制作人史蒂夫（ Stephen Street，日后他为 Gene的唱片制作出了大力），另一个是史蒂夫的邻居，日后成为乐队低音贝司手的凯文·迈尔斯（ Kevin Miles）。万事齐备只缺主歌手时，有个小伙子在他们出没的摇滚酒吧里递上这么张名片："马丁·鲁思特--专为追求名利进行鼓吹"。尽管直至今日史蒂夫、迈特和凯文还在争论在那天是谁先接到的名片，但是当初这个惹人注目的小家伙今天已牢牢占据了 Gene及至另类摇滚的一把座椅。
Gene乐队94年推出的首张单曲"夭折的孩子"及其后的"你是我的光明"等5张单曲都被独立乐评人评为高水准的佳作，其中的第三张单曲"今晚睡个好觉"更是挤进了年度40佳之列。但马丁的眼光似乎看得更远，用他的话来说，就是："我们不是组装艺术的唱片流水线工人"。
虽然乐评对Gene乐队或马丁的"半瓶醋"论调显得不屑一顾，但是Gene仍然顶着那块恶名远扬的"模仿小丑"招牌招摇过市，那张《拉到尽头了》在广受非议之时亦在榜单上取得了佳绩。也许正是这种无所顾忌的摇滚风格使 Gene显得与众不同。其实，Gene在乐风上模仿 The Smiths也正好避开了其它乐队，尤其是流行乐队的竞争。但Gene的存在确实对流行乐和摇滚乐市场都形成了冲击，96年10月乐队的热门作品 "Fighting Fit"（好斗争强）已是明证。马丁自称"对过去我已厌烦，我要做更前卫的东西。"
果然，乐队的新专辑里多"更前卫的东西"，而谢天谢地少了 The Smiths的影子。乐队把更多的音乐因素、风格吸纳了进来，象Queen（皇后 ）的华丽摇滚，" New Amusement"（新娱乐）的喧闹都出现了。新专辑里马丁个人尤其欣赏" Speak To Me Softly"（温柔地对我说）这首颇有流行潜质的歌。这各风格上的多样化是不是已在不经意间流露出Gene的野心呢--"我们不拒绝为人们宠爱，也喜欢在大庭广众为千万人拥戴，然而我们最希望听到终有一天人们众口一调在唱 Gene的歌。"
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Gene will forever be haunted by comparisons to the Smiths, especially since lead singer Martin Rossiter favors the same strangled croon and tortured loneliness of Morrissey. Nevertheless, under the direction of guitarist Steve Mason, Gene developed a tougher sound than the Smiths, drawing not only from the fey tradition of British indie-pop, but also from the three-chord raunch of the Faces, the working-class punk of the Jam and the soulful stomp of Motown. Most critic s didnt hear such subtle differences, and opinions on the groups worth were fiercely divided upon the release of the groups first single in 1994, with the band earning as many detractors as supporters. Amidst such divided reaction, Gene developed a devoted following which helped them become one of the leading artists of the Britpop second tier in 1995, even if the band had trouble breaking into the States.
The roots of Gene lay in a band called Spin, which featured guitarist Steve Mason and drummer Matt James. Spin disbanded after their career was sidetracked by their bassists injury in a car crash, yet Mason and James continued playing together, recruiting bassist Kevin Miles through a mutual friend. The trio eventually met Welsh native Martin Rossiter, and the quartet formed Gene in 1993. Over the course of the next few months, the band wrote a batch of songs and had performed a number of concerts by the end of the year. A pair of music journalists, Keith Cameron and Roy Wilkinson, formed the Costermonger label in order to release Genes debut single, For the Dead, in April 1994. Nearly every copy of the limited-edition release sold out within the first week, and Gene soon became favorites of the British music weeklies. That July, Be My Light, Be My Guide became a number one hit on the indie charts, and Gene had emerged as one of the leading new bands of the burgeoning Britpop movement. Major-label interest beckoned, and the group signed with Polydor, who subsidized Costermonger in the U.K. An acclaimed third single, Sleep Well Tonight, followed in September, and in January of 1995, Gene was named Best New Act at NMEs Brat Awards.
Until the release of the groups debut album, Olympian, in the spring of 1995, Gene had continued to build momentum, partially because Martin Rossiter had adopted Morrisseys technique of giving articulate, outrageous and witty interviews. Olympian, however, was greeted with mixed reviews, and although the group had a sizable fan base — the album debuted in the Top Ten — they were soon overshadowed by the legions of groups that popped up in the wake of Blur and Oasis success. Even so, Haunted by You and Olympian both became Top 20 hits. Early in 1996, To See the Lights, a collection of B-sides and BBC sessions, was released in England. For the remainder of the year, Gene was quiet, preparing their second album, Drawn to the Deep End. Fighting Fit was released as a teaser in the fall and became a Top Ten hit, but Drawn to the Deep End didnt follow through on its success. Although it debuted in the Top Ten upon its release in early 1997, it was greeted with decidedly mixed reviews and quickly fell down the charts, although the groups core audience remained loyal. By the new millennium, the band was without a label. They founded Contra and issued the live set Rising for Sunset: Live at the Troubadour in 2000. The album went almost unnoticed among the indie scene, however a true comeback loomed ahead. In mid-summer 2002, Gene emerged with Libertine, their strongest material since Olympian. A late summer/early fall trek across America coincided with the release.