Le Chat Noir were hard-rockin' Transatlantic desperadoes Teddy Hesper and Eileen Spruce. The band formed shortly after Spruce moved to England from her native Los Angeles in the winter of 2006 and split at the end of 2011.
In between, the duo hit the European gigging circuit hard, performing several hundred gigs in 8 different countries, their full throttle live performances leaving stages soaked with sweat and blood and littered with broken drumsticks.
Along the way, Teddy and Eileen shared a stage with acts such as Motorhead, UFO, The Sonics, MC5, Saxon, The Datsuns, Nick Oliveri of Queens Of The Stone Age, The Dwarves, Wanda Jackson, The Bellrays, The Gories, The Oblivians, Nine Black Alps, She Keeps Bees and The Kids.
Le Chat Noir recorded and released three albums through Garage Sale Records. Lyrically, the albums are a thematic trilogy of gritty tales based in a fictional setting that is part lawless Wild West, part shadowy film noir - featuring stories about femme fatales, hard liquor, murder and dark intrigue. Debut album Tales From Silver City was voted Playmusic Magazine’s Best Unsigned Recording of 2006 and quickly sold out; 2007's Deadwood is also sold out, whilst a third studio album, Postcards From The Dark Highway, was released in May 2009.
Le Chat Noir were working on a 4th studio album at the time of their demise.
"LE CHAT NOIR are a boy, Teddy Hesper, and a girl, Eileen Spruce, playing stripped-down, sleazoid rock’n’roll. They’re both 23. He’s from Devon, she’s from LA. He plays guitar and sings. She plays drums. She moved to Devon to make things move faster. It worked. The resulting album ‘Tales From Silver City’ is a masterclass in gutter-groove, mixing ‘50s garage with ‘60s Detroit howl and ‘70s punk riffola, where songs like ‘Mary Lee’ ooze class, confidence and clarity. If the Stooges, MC5, Winnebago Deal and Blues Explosion rock your world, then come stroke this dirty pussy."
- 24/7 Magazine album review
"Located at the sonic crossroads between raw blues-rock abuse and garage fuzz Le Chat Noir deliver the goods across fifteen pulpy noir-flecked tales of hard liquor, stray corpses and grief. This is effortlessly-convincing nu-blooze - cheap, sleazy and brutal - like The Black Keys sound-tracking a Film Noir. Underneath the tough blues exterior lies an equally doomy alt.rock heart that would doubtlessly beat comfortably on a 90s Sub Pop compilation."
- MAPS Magazine album review by Tom Leins
Teddy Hesper was born in London, England, but moved to the 'wild South West' of the Devonshire countryside at an early age. His guitar style is unusual and influenced by his years as a bassist before Le Chat Noir - he plays a detuned guitar with heavy strings, using an 2-way box to split the signal to a bass amplifier and guitar amplifier to flesh out the band's sound - whilst his untrained, exorcism-in-progress vocal delivery has led to comparisons to Kurt Cobain, Frank Black and even Jim Morrison.
California native Spruce moved to England in 2006. Anyone who has witnessed one of Le Chat Noir's live shows will testify that her aggressive, animated style is like nothing you've seen before from a female drummer. On stage, Spruce becomes a woman possessed; she is an irresistible presence behind the drums, pounding out solid, powerful rhythms. People have made comparisons to John Bonham and Keith Moon. She is one of the most animated and hardest-hitting drummers you are ever likely to see of either gender, attested to by a trail of broken drumsticks and smashed cymbals!
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