The Mavis's


The Mavis's were an Australian rock band formed in Ballarat, Victoria in 1987. Founding mainstays are Becky Thomas on vocals and keyboards, her brother Matt Thomas on guitar and vocals and Andrea Vendy on drums. They were joined by Nick Gill on guitar in 1990, and Josh Alexander on bass guitar in 1994. They released three studio album: Venus Returning, Pink Pills – which reached No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart – and Rapture. Their synth-driven single, "Cry", peaked at No. 13 on the ARIA Singles Charts and was listed on the Triple J Hottest 100 for 1998. The band also performed the song on Hey Hey It's Saturday. They disbanded in December 2001 after a farewell tour of Australia.

History

The Mavis's were formed as a four-piece post-punk, rock band in Ballarat in 1987 by Katherine McNulty on bass guitar; Becky Thomas on lead vocals, keyboards, Farfisa, percussion and melodica; her brother, Matt Thomas on guitar, vocals, sitar, Indian banjo, Farfisa, Harmonium, percussion, keyboards and sound FX; and Andrea Vendy on drums, percussion, bells and djembe. Andrew Craw soon joined on guitar for live performances. Matt described forming the band as "a way to get away from Ballarat". They were named after a cat, Mavis, that they saw while jamming in a friend's basement. Their first gig was in a church hall with a four-song set list.
In 1990 the band relocated to Melbourne and Craw was replaced on guitar by Nick Gill. They released their debut single, a 7" double A-side of "Rollercoaster" and "Witch Hunt", in the following year on the Giggle label.
In early 1993 they released their first extended play, Spindrift, via the Slipped Discs label and Mushroom Distribution Service. Its five tracks were recorded by Dave Nelson and mixed and produced by Nelson with Paul Barker. Cameron Adams of Beat Magazine described it in February 1993 as "Recorded live at The Empress – and sounding all the better for it – The Mavis's make pop which is edgy and ace fun. From the rollicking 'Spinning Top' to the very cool 'Bless My Soul' it is a fine EP. Best of all is the opener 'Juggernaut', all harmony and melody."
A second EP, Poseidon, was released in May 1994, on MDS. The six-track work was recorded by the line up of Becky and Matt Thomas, Gill, Urquhart and Vendy; with Laurence Maddy producing. Jeff Jenkins of In Press Magazine described it, "This is pop that also rocks. It's dreamy, but it also knows when to poke you in the chest. These guys are great." X-Press Magazines Lucy Morris felt that it "contains six refreshingly exciting, highly addictive, punchy pop songs which should at least earn them the tag of 'a band to look out for'. This is simply one of the best Australian releases for ages. It's the perfect marriage of post punk artiness and classic pop melodies with bucket-loads of energy to boot." By the time the EP appeared, Josh Alexander had joined on bass guitar.
Their popularity grew and they signed with Mushroom Records' White Records label in 1995, which issued their second single, "Moon Drone Gold", in December. The Mavis's released their debut album, Venus Returning, in May 1996, which was produced by Kalju Tonuma. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described how it "highlighted the band's brash sound, which mixed the Thomas siblings' idiosyncratic, imperfect vocal blend, crashing guitars, sugar-frosted melodies, goofy keyboard embellishments and odd instrumentation." It provided three singles, "Thunder", "Box" and "Lost". "Thunder" was listed on the national youth radio Triple J audience poll, Hottest 100 of 1996, at No. 92. They toured with Sydney-based pop group, Def FX.
The band's next single, "Naughty Boy", was released in August 1997, which McFarlane felt was "raunchy" and an "aggressive rock" effort. It was listed on the Triple J Hottest 100, 1997 at No. 37 – their highest ever placement. It was used in a Just Jeans ad. In April 1998 they released their second studio album, Pink Pills, which reached No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It was also produced by Tonuma for White Records. McFarlane declared that the album was "critically acclaimed" and "was a more diverse and ambitious release than the debut."
The second single from the album, "Cry", reached No. 13 on the ARIA Singles Chart. McFarlane opined that it was "infectious... glistening synth-pop... ABBA meets ELO." The track was listed at No. 61 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 1998. They performed the song live on Hey Hey It's Saturday. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1998 the Mavis's received four nominations: Best Pop Release for Pink Pills and Best Cover Art for Dominic O'Brien, Matt Thomas, Rachel Boyce and Alison Smith work, Single of the Year and Song of the Year for "Cry". At the 1999 awards ceremony, their single "Puberty Song" earned Tonuma a nomination for Engineer of the Year – together with his work on 28 Days' album Kid Indestructible and Felicity Hunter's "Hardcore Adore".
After the album's release, the band toured in support of Kylie Minogue, and later that year they backed United States group, Green Day, on their Australian tour. The band contributed a cover version of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David song, "Walk on By", for the various Australian artists' tribute album, To Hal and Bacharach, on WEA. This was followed by a cover of the Duran Duran song, "Planet Earth", which was featured on another tribute album, Undone: The Songs of Duran Duran in October 1999. In 2000 they contributed a cover of the ABBA song "Bang-A-Boomerang" to the soundtrack to the comedy film, The Wog Boy.
In February 2000, they released the single, "Happiness", which appeared on a television advertisement for Australian Hyundai Motor Company. The company's original slogan was "Hyundai is happiness". The Mavis's also provided music for a Coca-Cola ad. This was followed in May by another cover, this time of Jim Keays' "The Boy from the Stars", which was included in the soundtrack to the film, Sample People.
They recorded material for a third album, Rapture, with Tonuma producing, but it was not released until March 2003 because of problems between the group and their label. The second single from the album, "Coming Home", was released in May. From July to August 2001 the group provided a farewell tour of Australia and performed tracks from the album, before disbanding in December. They issued a compilation album, Throwing Little Stones, in October 2002.
After their split, Becky Thomas, Nick Gill and Josh Alexander formed Junkatique, and later, Beki and the Bullets with Beki Thomas and Nick Gill. Matt Thomas performed as Matt Doll and fronted electro-pop bands, The Blow Waves and Video Video, with Byron St John and Matthew Sigley. In February 2013 siblings, Beki and Matt re-united to perform some material by the Mavis's, and to record a six-track EP, Searching for Zero. On 27 December 2014 the Mavis's reformed, with original members Beki, Matt and Nik joined by additional musicians, for a one-off show in Melbourne. Alexander and Vendy were unavailable.
In 2018, the band reunited once again to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Pink Pills. The Thomas siblings and Gill performed the album in its entirety for the tour.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

Also appearing