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Formed in Bristol in 2001 by friends Aaron Dewey (vocals and cornet, though he is also an accomplished drummer) and Benjamin Shillabeer (guitar and songwriting), the Playwrights played a brand of angular post-punk inspired by Gang of Four and popularized by bands like Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand. The duo recorded a handful of demos before filling out the group with guitarist Nathan Edmunds, drummer Maff Rigby, and bassist Andrew Smith and released their debut album, Good Beneath the Radar, in 2003 on Shillabeer's Sink & Stove label, which gained the group some press (John Peel declared the album one of his favorites of May 2003) both in the U.K. and U.S. The following year the three-song Guy Debord Is Really Dead EP came out, but the time was also marked by the departure of both Smith and Rigby. By the end of 2004 bassist Hector Peebles came into the band and was joined by drummer Tom Mills a few months later. Mid-2005 the group set about on recording English Self Storage, an album released in March of 2006. Shortly after, however, both Edmunds and Mills left, leaving the Playwrights as a trio. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
