Music like Gene

Gene were a British rock band that rose to prominence in the mid-1990s. Formed in 1993, they were categorized by the UK music press as a Britpop band and often drew comparisons to the Smiths because of similarities to Morrissey in the demeanor and lyrical style of lead singer Martin Rossiter. Gene's music was influenced by the Jam, the Smiths, the Style Council and the Clash.

Gene's origins lie in a previous band which was first called The Go Hole, named after a fictional "Beat" club in John Clellon Holmes' novel Go, and later renamed Sp!n when they became a four-piece. The band was formed by Lee Clark (vocals/guitar) and Daz Walton (bass). Soon afterwards, Matt James joined on drums with John Mason on bass. Their first single, recorded in the same studios as The Ruts' "In a Rut", appeared on their own Big Pop Records label. A John Peel session fueled their early success, where they mixed with the music and artistic community in Camberwell mingling with members of The House of Love, My White Bedroom and Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. Self-managed, apart from a couple of brief interactions with aspirant small-time music moguls, John Mason would organize and negotiate much of the group's gigs, contracts and press especially later when they were a four-piece. After 18 months Clark, Mason and James invited John's brother Steve Mason to play lead/rhythm guitar and thereby free Clark to focus on vocals.