Guitarist Will Sergeant and singer Ian McCulloch formed Echo & the Bunnymen with bassist Les Pattinson in Liverpool in 1978. The group later replaced a drum machine with Trinidad-native Pete de Freitas, and became one of the most important British indie bands of the '80s. Ian McCulloch left for a solo career in 1988, and his debut album Candleland proved successful. Meanwhile, his former band imploded after 1990's Reverberation, recorded with a McCulloch imitator named Noel Burke. In 1992, McCulloch's second solo album, Mysterio, flopped, and he reconciled with Sergeant two years later. Sergeant and McCulloch recruited bassist Leon de Sylva and drummer Tony McGuigan and toured England as Electrafixion. Crowds and the press approved of the group's groove-heavy update of Echo & the Bunnymen's moody, slightly psychedelic indie pop. In November 1994, Electrafixion released "Zephyr" on their Spacejunk label, and followed with the album Burned in late 1995.