Union Kid were a British indie rock group formed in Braintree, Essex in the late 1990s by Sean Tuohy (guitar/vocals), Mark Keates (drums), and Simon Dobson (bass).
Established in 1997, Union Kid described Braintree as the "punk rock capital of the world",[1] partly in reference to the burgeoning local music scene at the time, and also because of the attention Braintree's The Prodigy had brought the town following their 1996 breakthrough.
[2] Union Kid's musical style has been compared to The Replacements and Fugazi, with their sound described by the NME as "taut, tight, tense and superbly overmuscled post-hardcore punk rock’n’roll.
They came to the attention of the music press in 1999 with the release of their debut single "Fort Disney", which the NME called a "a twisted tribute to The Beach Boys’ ‘California Girls’ with extra souped-up guitars and a chorus the size of Weston-Super-Mare".
[4] 1999 additionally saw the first of two Peel Sessions, recorded at Maida Vale Studios and broadcast on BBC Radio 1.