Both fairly similar bands, both from the same part of England, both released their debut albums around the same time,
both have had the same sort of moderate success but Elbow suddenly broke out and received alot of accolades and deservedly so. Could Doves have the same success this year with their album "Kingdom Of Rust" ???

If I remember correctly Doves have been around scince the late 80's, where they had a few Top 10 hit singles. They used top be a dance band until 2002 when they released 'The last broadcast' album, this was when they went Indie/Rock. The album also went to number 1 in the UK. They also had a album called 'Some Cities' back in 2005, and now Kingdom Of Rust.

No, they have only been active since 1998

Formation, Sub Sub: 1985–1998
The formation of Doves can be traced back to when the Williams brothers and Goodwin met at Wilmslow High School at age 15. At the time, Jimi Goodwin was playing lead guitar in a band called The Risk; the other members were Joe Roberts (vocals and Rhodes keyboard), Steve Green (rhythm guitar), Dermot Ahern (bass guitar), Jimi's cousin Pat Goodwin (drums), and managed by Tim Mulryan. The Risk used to practice at Handforth Youth Club and met with some moderate success, mainly playing in Manchester pubs and at The Gallery (Peter Street), The Boardwalk (Little Peter Street) and The International (Anson Road in Rusholme). They also played at The Tunnel Club, Greenwich and at SoapAid. A 5-song demo entitled Take Five was recorded at Spirit studios in Manchester.[3]
Meanwhile, back in 1981, Andy and Jez Williams formed a band with school-mate and bass player Tim Whiteley, recording and gigging from the age of 12 onwards. Various line-ups followed, as well as a brief TV appearance in 1986. Then, in 1988, Jez Williams and Whiteley became members of Metro Trinity, a Manchester indie band, with Jonny Male (latterly of Republica), and released a Debris Flexi Disc (Manchester indie fanzine) with the Inspiral Carpets. Metro Trinity played a number of gigs including The Boardwalk and the The Haçienda. They also released an EP called Die Young on Cafeteria Records, recorded in Brixton, with drummer Colin Rocks, who was eventually replaced by Andy Williams due to other commitments.
After meeting again at The Haçienda in 1989, the Williams brothers and Jimi Goodwin formed Sub Sub, releasing their first single "Space Face" in 1991, and then in 1993 they released "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)," which reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart.[4] On the Williams twins' birthday in February 1996, the band's Ancoats studio caught fire and burned down, leading the band members to abandon their previous dance-oriented style and start afresh as alternative rock band Doves in 1998.[4]
Of the threesome's change of direction, Jez Williams has said: "We were faced with a really black and white decision: throw the towel in or carry on. And if you're going to carry on, you've got to put everything into it to justify it, because before that you've lost everything. That was quite a liberating feeling, actually."[5]

That's their history pre-1998

Lost Souls (April 3, 2000)
The Last Broadcast (April 29, 2002)
Some Cities (February 21, 2005)
Kingdom of Rust (April 6, 2009)

All their albums.

.

PS: LOVE DOVES!

I don't think Doves are in the same category considering two of their previous albums have been Number 1.

I remember first hearing Doves when they released The Cedar Room back in 2000. Loved that song, still play it on a regular basis.

Surely to be 'this years Elbow' they would have had to have been previously unheard of, whereas Doves have been kicking round for years. Infact they were playing Pounding at Man City as the teams ran out over 6 years ago.

Kingdom of Rust is very good, but Seldom Seen Kid is a practically perfect album.

Elbow weren't exactly previously unheard of.

looks like my prophecy may be coming true. already favourites for the mercury prize, which Elbow picked up last year.

Which is why I don't think they'll win it....they don't like to give it to two similar genres in consecutive years so I'd back something else heh.....

I like Doves, thought their first two albums were very good, and when they're on top form they're hard to beat (There Goes The Fear, Lost Souls, Rise, Words, Satellites, Cedar Room, Kingdom Of Rust), my major quibble though is vocally they can sound a little flat at times, which can pall over a whole album....

I like them, too, and I also agree that I don't think they're that unknown. But neither were Elbow. I prefer them to Elbow, actually.

I think there is a fair bit of difference between the two bands really.

Doves previous 2 albums before Kingdom of Rust were both UK no 1 albums and were both shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, so Kingdom of Rust also being shortlisted isn't really a new thing for them. You could even argue that Kingdom of Rust has actually been less successful as it only reached no 2 in the album charts.

Whereas Elbow really did come out of nowhere in 2008 with Seldom Seen Kid as their previous 2 albums didn't get anything like the same sort of commercial or critical success.

At the end of the day I like both bands though - Elbow were fantastic when I saw them at the Latitude Festival last year, and Doves are playing at Latitude this year so I'm looking forward to seeing them.

Actually despite Elbow's lack of commercial succsess all of their albums have had critical succsess.

They've always had some degree of critical acclaim. They haven't had the same level as Doves though, at least if this is measured in terms of previous Mercury nominations (which is what I was referring to).

Although Elbow did get a Mercury nomination for their first album back in 2001 or so.

It will be interesting to see if Doves win it this year having now had 3 albums in a row nominated, not sure how many other bands have managed to achieve that.

therein lies the problem for Doves , they havn't written an album of that quality for a long time. when I first heard the epic Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver I mistakenly thought it was Doves and briefly celebrated that they had refound some passion and form in their writing only to find out soon after it was Elbow.


I wonder if Doves can find that sort of song from within themselves now or in the future ?

While I think Doves are brilliant Elbow are definitely the better band. Though obviously loads of people will have a different opinion. Older Elbow songs like Fugitive Motel, Newborn, Grace Under Pressure, Switching Off, Powder Blue, Red etc. are class. Doves' Last Broadcast album is record and there are a few decent tracks off Lost Souls but overall they don't beat Elbow for me.