Washington, DC's Smart Went Crazy made records and played countless shows across the USA. Con Art, the band's last CD/vinyl release, is 73 minutes of eclectic rock stimuli guaranteed to keep you guessing.
Smart Went Crazy sprang out of a studio project begun by Chad, Abe, and Hilary. The trio added Tony Dennison on drums and the new foursome recorded the Cubbyhole EP, later released on their own label CozyDisc in 1994. Jeff joined the band around this time and the new quintet soon began playing live shows in the Washinton, DC area. Devin Ocampo replaced Tony on drums in the Winter of 1997.
SWC's first full length, Now We're Even, was recorded at Inner Ear and released in Feb. of 1996. It is considered the blackest humor Dischord has ever seen pressed into vinyl or lazed into plastic. The irony is clear, sharp and scathing through the lyrics. The well-orchestrated music acts as the lure, more beautiful where the words sting the most.
Con Art was recorded in the Spring of 1997, again at Inner Ear with Don Zientara engineering. While some sounds on Con Art can be traced to earlier releases, the elusive Con Art definitely possesses a different, edgier sound. Devin Ocampo adds a fresh rhythm energy while the guitars and electric cello have both stepped up in the mix. The lyrics on Con Art, while diverse in origin, often map the turmoil of relationship termination.
SMC disbanded at the end of their Spring of '98 tour.
Ярлыки:
dischord,
post-hardcore
Arcwelder was formed as Tiltawhirl in 1987. Our first single was issued in that year. It wasn't like we weren't trying to play shows, but we couldn't get booked for some time. As it is, the band was nebulous before that. Rob and I put out a cassette together in 1984 called Big Money Miracles. We individually recorded songs on four track, not as a band. Rob, Bill and I released a cassette called Paul Lynde to Block in 1985, again as individuals and not as a band. We toyed with a band in different configurations. We played as a three piece with a Drumulator and me playing bass and both Grabers playing guitars. We played as a four piece with Paul Dickenson on drums and Scott playing bass and both Grabers playing guitars. I think Scott might have been the main singer in these but everyone sang, including Paul.
Soon before the release of our first LP, the Selner Manufacturing Corporation, the makers of the Tilt-A-Whirl ride, slapped us with a cease and desist letter. Well, their lawyers did. We paniked, and changed the name to Arcwelder, after one of our song titles. We considered names such as Tilt,Tiilted World, Milt-a-Berle. But Chris Johnson, our record lable head at the time, had been talking with their lawyers. He was convinced that anything that sounded remotely like tiltawhirl wouldn't fly. "I don't think they'll let you change the name of your band to anythong that begins with 'T'," said Chris.
Since then, lots of other stuff has happened. We released a single on Stereolab's lable which made it into John Peel's Festive Fifty in 1992, signed with Touch And Go Records, played lots of great shows, toured the East Coast and South in the 90's with The Jesus Lizard, Jawbox, Flour, Tar, Kepone. Played shows with The Smashing Pumpkins, JSBX, The Dead Milkmen, Buffalo Tom. Our song Criminal was in the movie Normal Life in 1996. Played at All Tommorrow's Parties in England in 2002 and 2004, played the Sant Feliu Fest in Spain in 2008. Toured the west coast with Shellac in 2009. Blah Blah Blah.
Ярлыки:
indie rock,
post-hardcore
The band was formed in 1987 by Andy Maconald (aka "Dr. Technology", guitar), P6 (aka "Fat Bastard", "Wilberforce", real name Phil Eaglesham, vocals), with the line-up completed by Mofungo Diggs (Steven MacDougall, bass) and Richie Dempsey (drums). The band wore asbestos firewear, gas masks, flashy shirts and balaclavas on stage, and after support slots with the Happy Mondays, The Wonderstuff and The Shamen began their recording career on the Moshka label with the Bros are Pish EP, poking fun at then chart-toppers Bros, among others. This resulted in discussion in a Smash Hits inerview, with Craig explaining to the Goss brothers what 'Pish' Meant. Their debut album, Five Fingers, Four Fingers, a Thumb, a Facelift and a New Identity followed in 1989. Dempsey departed to join Dawson, and was replaced by Mr. Jason (Jason Boyce) of the Dandilion Adventure, and the band were signed up by top indie label Blast First. Their first release on Blast First was the 1990 EP Eyeball Origami Aftermath Wit Vegetarian Leg. A further single 23 Skinner followed in January 1991 before their second album was issued, Pish In Your Sleazebag. Touring Europe and playing shows with dutch band Revenge Of The Carrots and old colleagues Dog Faced Hermans, the band split up in 1992, before which they recorded a session for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. Two years later, their last, posthumous, release was the Barbed Anal Exciter EP
p6 /Phil Eaglesham and Richie Dempsey are currently both members of DeSalvo along with Allan Stewart of Idlewild and Alex Grant, formerly of Idlewild. The band released their debut album on Mogwai's Rock Action Records in 2008.
Ярлыки:
hardcore,
noise rock,
post-punk
Corm started in the suburbs of D।C. when Dan Chu (drums), John Davis (guitar), Josh Hecht (guitar) and Ben Winters (vocals) got together in March of 1990 to try out for the 8th grade talent show. They did not make the cut. Soon, Alex Ficker joined on as lead singer and Ben switched over to bass. The fivesome spent nearly every weekend together for the next few years, slowly learning how to play their instruments and write songs.
The band recorded a few demo tapes (This Six in 1992 and Rule 303 in 1993) and continued to play throughout the D.C. area. In January of '94, Rob Anthony replaced Josh on guitar and the band immediately went into WGNS Studios to record its first 7", Custom Cool, which was issued in the spring of '94, weeks before their high school graduation. This was followed with the band's first forays out of state, with little weekend tours here and there. Ben left the band in the summer of '95 and was replaced by Scott Stenger. A week after Scott joined, the band left on a tour of the Midwest in support of its second single, The Conservation of Momentum (a split release between Dischord and John's label, Shute).
In 1996, Corm recorded its only full-length, Audio Flame Kit, which was released that summer on Shute/Dischord. The band went on its most extensive tour that summer and also recorded four new songs which were intended to be released as two singles on different labels (Polyvinyl and Foresight). However, the band decided to split up in 1997 and played its final show at the Black Cat in June of that year. One of the songs from the Polyvinyl single ("Traded Green Trees") was re-routed to a split single with Braid that Polyvinyl issued in the summer of '97. The four songs the band recorded on its '96 tour wound up coming out on a CD called Everything Streamlined (Contrast Records) which collected the band's entire output since Rule 303. Since the split was amicable, Corm reconvened in the fall of '97 to record the last song they'd written, "I Have No Use For Empires," which was included on Everything Streamlined. During the recording, they wound up writing another new song, "Chess," which opens up Everything Streamlined.
Following Corm, Dan, John and Alex started up a band called The Elusive with Ian Chu (bass) and Chris Richards (guitar/vocals)। The Elusive was a short-lived project, but left behind a CDEP called Sometimes Sounds Collapse. Rob went on to play guitar in a band called The Maginot Line. John went on to play drums in Q and Not U, who released several albums and toured extensively from 1998 until they disbanded in 2005. John now plays in a band called Georgie James, while Scott continues to work on assorted musical projects. Ben played in a band called The Miracle Cures from 1993 to 1998 and has gone on to write musicals for the stage. In the spring of 2005, Audio Flame Kit was remixed and remastered at Silver Sonya/Inner Ear Studios by T.J. Lipple. It was reissued by Polyvinyl Records in November 2005.
Ярлыки:
post-hardcore
Devin Ocampo and Chad Molter have been musical partners, swapping instruments and bands, since their high school days in Los Angeles. Devin migrated east to Washington, DC in 1996 where he joined Smart Went Crazy for their second and final album, Con Art. Chad soon followed and the two formed the highly influential Faraquet with SWC guitarist Jeff Boswell. Faraquet released a couple singles, a split EP with Akarso, and one full-length, The View From This Tower, before disbanding in 2000.
Chad and Devin were again reunited when Medications formed in 2003. The original Medications line-up, which included drummer Andy Becker, released and EP and a full-length ( on Dischord Records and toured extensively in the States and in Europe.
The recording of the new Medications album, CompletelyRemoved, documents a new phase for the band with Chad and Devin covering all the writing and most of the instrumental duties following the departure of Becker. Happily both are accomplished multi-instrumentalists and are joined live and in the studio by longtime friend and musical swing-man Mark Cisneros.
CompletelyRemoved released in April 2010 and the band plans targeted touring in the States, Europe and bey
Ярлыки:
dischord,
indie rock,
math rock
Slint established its earliest roots when, in 1981, at the ages of eleven and twelve, guitarist Brian McMahan and drummer Britt Walford began playing together in Louisville, KY. In 1984, Britt Walford and guitarist David Pajo started collaborating musically at the ages of fourteen and sixteen. 1985 saw the origination of Slint itself, the band then comprising Britt Walford, David Pajo, and bassist Ethan Buckler. Brian McMahan joined the following year.
In 1987, Slint recorded their debut album, Tweez, with Steve Albini behind the board in Chicago and released it on the short-lived and enigmatic Jennifer Hartman Records and Tapes label. At this time, Ethan Buckler departed and was replaced on bass by Todd Brashear. 1989 saw the recording of their untitled two song EP, engineered by Steve Albini, mixed by Brian Paulson, and released by Touch and Go Records.
In 1990, Slint recorded the landmark Spiderland album in Chicago with Brian Paulson both engineering and mixing. This release, in particular, became an independent music touchstone, loved and admired by hundreds of thousands of fans and emulated by a generation of musicans.
The following year, the year in which Spiderland was issued by Touch and Go, Slint broke up. The band played a few reunion shows in 2005, and continue to play the occasional one-off at their own pace and discretion.
Ярлыки:
indie rock,
touchandgo
