Britpop band Gene have voiced their frustrations over another group using the same name as theirs on promotional posters for an upcoming tour with Pale Waves.

The former – fronted by Martin Rossiter – rose to prominence in the mid-’90s, releasing two UK Top 10 albums: ‘Olympian’ (1995) and ‘Drawn To The Deep End’ (1997). The latter is a rising LA-based duo – comprised of Claudia Mills and Harrison Allen – who released their latest single ‘Stole Your Car’ back in May.

Mills and Allen’s Gene were recently announced as one of the support acts on Pale Waves’ forthcoming 2022 UK and Ireland tour, alongside Manchester band Hot Milk. Their billing caught the attention of Rossiter, who took to Twitter to ask for advice about what he should do about the LA band using the same name.

“Genuine question. What should we do about this?” Rossiter tweeted yesterday (December 4), sharing a screenshot of the other Gene’s Twitter account which shows he’s been blocked by them. “I don’t want to financially screw over any up and coming musicians but they’ve taken our name. They’re on a poster supporting @palewaves and it feels wrong.

He added: “They clearly know about us because they’ve already blocked me without… having had any contact with me on Twitter. I’d be interested in people’s thoughts. Thanks.”

having had any contact with me on Twitter. I'd be interested in people's thoughts. Thanks 2/2.

— Martin Rossiter (@MartinRossiter) December 4, 2021

In a pair of follow-up tweets shared today (December 5), Rossiter said he had discovered that Mills and Pale Waves had been subject to some “unacceptable abuse” following his initial tweets, which he doesn’t condone.

“Please read and RT,” he began his tweet. “I have discovered that the lead singer of @genetheband and @palewaves have been receiving unacceptable abuse on various social media platforms. It’s okay to have an reasonable opinion about this issue but the abuse (which I’ve seen) is fucking atrocious. STOP”

I asked for people's opinions (which I now regret) and a lot of people have offered valuable advice but to abuse people is just unacceptable especially women in a space which is already hard enough for them to exist in.

— Martin Rossiter (@MartinRossiter) December 5, 2021

Rossiter said he now regrets asking for people’s opinions. “I asked for people’s opinions (which I now regret) and a lot of people have offered valuable advice but to abuse people is just unacceptable especially women in a space which is already hard enough for them to exist in,” he wrote in a follow-up tweet.

Last month, Pale Waves shared a live performance video of ‘Fall To Pieces’ – taken from their second album, ‘Who Am I?‘ – from The Pool in London.

They also recently revealed that they’ve written a new song inspired by Netflix’s Sex Education.