The Perfect Disaster

Man, the world has never wanted for could've-been bands that only with hindsight can we say wandered precariously close to success. Today's example: the Perfect Disaster. One of the early members, Josephine Wiggs, was also a member of the Breeders during the Pod and Last Splash days. Also, they toured with the Jesus and Mary Chain, to whom they bear a striking resemblance. A dour Jesus and Mary; there's a snarl to the Perfect Disaster that distinguishes them. And singer Phil Parfitt's more snot-nosed Bobby Gillespie than the prosaic Reid brothers.



On their best LP, 1989's Up, they slip into these murky meditations that bring them closer to forefathers, like John Cale and the Velvets, as well as other contemporaries, like Spacemen 3. No surprise, then, that the Perfect Disaster picked up that band's final drummer, Jon Mattock, for their final album, Heaven Scent. Around the time of its release, Jason Pierce began his Spiritualized project, and guess who his drummer was? Mattock.