Created in the shoegaze movement, The Telescopes was formed in 1987 in Burton-on-Trent, England, by Stephen Lawrie (vocals, guitar), Joanna Doran (guitar, vocals), David Fitzgerald (guitar), Robert Brooks (bass) and Dominic Dillon (drums). In 1988, the group released their first single, "Forever Close Your Eyes", in a flexidisc split with the band Loop. In addition to carrying influences from Jesus And Mary Chain and Spacemen 3, the banda had its garageiro side, with an extremely furious vocal, reminiscent of Iggy Pop.

After a few singles, the band released their first album in 1989, Taste, under the label What Goes On. In 1990, the group signed with Creation Records, for which they released their second album, simply titled The Telescopes, in 1992. This album it brought softer songs and with a certain psychedelism, a work more directed to dream pop.

However, even with a well-crafted album, the band unofficially disbanded after the second album. Stephen Lawrie and Jo Doran continued to work together with the band Unisex. And, in 2002, the two returned with The Telescopes, but without the other original members. With this return came the album Third Wave (2002).

In 2003, the Brazilian label Midsummer Madness released the compilation Premonitions 1989-91. In the following years, Stephen Lawrie kept Telescopes active and released other albums, more on the experimental line - #4 (2005) and Infinite Sun (2008).

Infinite Sun is a collaboration between Stephen Lawrie and Bridget Hayden (former member of Vibracathedral Orchestra). In 2013, Telescopes released Harm, an album made up of two long tracks. In 2015, the group released Hidden Fields and, in 2017, As Light Return. A new work, entitled Exploding Head Syndrome, came out in 2019. In December 2020, original guitarist David Fitzgerald passed away at age 54 from cancer.

The band returned with a new studio album in 2021, when they released Songs of Love & Revolution.