On 29 August that year, they appeared on the bill alongside Babes in Toyland, Beastie Boys and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at the Pukkelpop festival near Hasselt, Belgium.

One more aspect that Hardy felt destroyed the band as a creative unit was the record label's decision to introduce formatting of their singles.

Hardy believed the failure of the fourth and final album In the Best Possible Taste was as much a result of the formatting method as it was the changing tides of musical culture.

Whilst tracks such as "One False Move" revealed a subtle shift towards urban rockabilly, the band called it quits after touring later the same year.

In 2010 the band reformed, minus Hardy, as Kingmaker MMX after re-recording their hit "Armchair Anarchist" for an anti-politics compilation album called Electio Pop on Helen Llewelyn Product 19 Records.

The new Kingmaker line-up featured Michael Wright (vocals) Jonee Kemp (lead guitar) and Phil Keech (keyboards), all Hull-based musicians.