Lash were an all-female alternative/punk rock band from Perth, Australia. The members Belinda-Lee Reid, Jaclyn Pearson, Jessica Bennett and Micaela Slayford who all met at the CatholicSanta Maria College. The group released one studio album, The Beautiful and the Damned in 2002.
History
1996-2003: Exteria & Lash
After being together for a few weeks, and at age 14, the girls, named Exteria entered the song "Aloha Mr Hand" into the Open Youth Category for the under-18s WAM Song of the Year in the 1996 West Australian Music Industry Awards. Exteria won the $1,000 prize, and came to the attention of manager Andrew Klippel. In 2001, they renamed themselves Lash and signed to Festival Mushroom Records. Lash's released their debut single "Take Me Away" in March 2001 and peaked at number 33 on the ARIA Charts. "Beauty Queen" was released in August 2001 and peaked at number 31 on the ARIA Charts. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2001, "Take Me Away" was nominated for ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Single. Lash won Best New Australian Artist on Commercial Radio at the Commercial Radio Australia Awards of 2001. Throughout 2002, Lash toured with Eskimo Joe, The Living End, Motor Ace and Ash. "Don't Ever Make My Mind Up" was released in February 2002, which was followed by their debut albumThe Beautiful and the Damned, which was released in April 2002 and peaked at number 77 on the ARIA Charts. In 2002, Lash represented Australia at the Golden Stag Festival in Romania. Their song "Beauty Queen" was also featured on the Freaky Friday soundtrack in 2003, as was "Take Me Away", which was performed by the main character's band in the film. The group disbanded in 2003 after poor album sales and amid criticism that they were "manufactured" by manager/producer/songwriter Andrew Klippel and producer/songwriter Barry Palmer and thus lacked the "credibility" seemingly demanded of an Australian rock group.
2004-present: post Lash
Belinda-Lee Reid: After the break-up of Lash, Belinda-Lee Reid has pursued a solo career. She was the subject of an episode of the documentary TV programme The Hit Game, which aired in Australia on ABCTV on 4 October 2005, and showed her recording demos with Palmer, assisted by Pearson and Bennett. In this show she lamented the stigma attached to her by music industry leaders, for being in a 'failed' act. Reid's debut solo extended playThe Road from Lillyfield was touted for release in 2005, but never emerged. In 2006, Reid formed a new band called The Silver Scene and released a self-titled extended play for free download on Triple J Unearthed's website. By 2014 Reid was working as a Real Estate Agent. Jessica Bennett and Jaclyn Pearson: After the break-up of Lash, Bennett and Pearson were part of group The Preytells from 2004–2009. They won the National Campus Band Competition in 2005. Since 2016 Jessica Bennett has run Love Shack Studios in Footscray, Victoria.
