Formed in 1987 in the sleepy coastal town of Irvine, Scotland and acclaimed for their delicate, deft, and often witty songwriting courtesy of hyper articulate lead singer Frank Reader, the band’s early days suggested they were destined for world wide fame. Their John Leckie produced debut, Cake, spawned bona fide alternative radio hits in "Obscurity Knocks", "Only Tongue Can Tell" and "Circling the Circumference". In the US Cake spent three months on the Billboard 200. The follow up album, I've Seen Everything, released in 1993, included the single “Hayfever" which had entertaining honor of being featured on the the MTV animated series, Beavis and Butthead.  But  the band’s third album, A Happy Pocket marked the beginning of a tumultuous period for the band. A Happy Pocket was released in the UK and Japan, but was unavailable in the U.S. after the band's American distributor declined to release the record.  After Go!Discs was acquired by Universal in 1996, the band was dropped from the label, subsequently forced to sell their Shabby Road recording studio and declare bankruptcy.

Since then, their recording and touring has been sporadic but now, after 30 years together and with over 100 songs under their belt - most recently from their acclaimed 2016 Mike Mogis-produced album Wild Pendulum- they’re taking to the road for their most extensive US tour in decades. These special acoustic shows will feature arrangements for every song in the catalog, whether fan (or band) favorites, deep album cuts or obscure B-sides.  These intimate performances will remind their feverishly loyal fans what made them fall in love in the first place.

The A.V. Club said “Wild Pendulum is lovingly crafted, with layers in all the right places, ” while Allmusic exclaimed the album is “quite likely the best sophisticated guitar pop album anyone is likely to hear in 2016.”