Junket - S.F. Claremont Hi (1996, RoadCone)

The San Francisco based Junket emerged from the early 90s scene associated with the Shrimper label along with bands like Refrigerator, Nothing Painted Blue, Franklin Bruno, and The Mountain Goats. The band existed from 1991-1993, and this collection of their entire recorded output was released posthumously on the Portland, Oregon label Roadcone records. Junket's sound had a lot in common with 90s indie heavyweights Pavement and Sebadoh, but often borders on the slower style of Seam or Bedhead. On a side note: apologies for the long absence from posting, hopefully there will be less of a gap between posts in the future.

DOWNLOAD

Skinner Pilot - This Parking Lot Is Being Videotaped (1997, GoodSin)

Skinner Pilot began as a side project for Elizabeth Sharp, who was then the drummer for Massachusetts noise-pop favorites New Radiant Storm King. Around 1995 she left New Radiant Storm King to focus on Skinner Pilot, a band in which she played bass and split the vocal duties with guitarist Andrew Zarou. The previous year, the band had contributed the track "Traces of Alignment" to the Hotel Massachusetts compilation released on Chunk Records (you can read up on the fascinating story of the Chunk label here). Skinner Pilot's one and only full length release, This Parking Lot is Being Videotaped was released on GoodSin Records in 1997. Its a dark record characterized by slinky, angular guitar work reminiscent of Unwound and early Sonic Youth. Sharp would soon shift her focus yet again, this time to her current project, the rhythm-focused one woman band Ill Ease.

DOWNLOAD

Purple Ivy Shadows - No Less the Trees Than the Stars (1997, Slow River)

After releasing a number of singles on labels like SpinART, Zero Hour, and My Pal God, Providence, Rhode Island's Purple Ivy Shadows made their full-length debut with No Less the Trees Than the Stars on Slow River records in 1997.  While some of their earlier output had bordered on dream pop, the band dropped (most of) the reverb in favor of a more alt-country influenced indie rock for this album. Allmusic's review of the album cited Pavement's "Range Life" as a reference for its overall tone, which is certainly fitting. The album was recorded with Dave Auchenbach, singer/guitarist for the like minded group Small Factory.  The band continued to release records into the next decade, but are no longer active.  You can read more about band at their MySpace. 

DOWNLOAD

Spoiler - Crashpad (1994, PCP)

Following the dissolution of legendary no-wavers Live Skull, guitarist Mark C. founded Spoiler, a band that retained some of his previous band's noisiness, yet included a newfound pop sensibility.  So while Live Skull had been an integral part of the 80's NYC no-wave scene alongside contemporaries like Sonic Youth, Swans, and Band of Susans, don't expect quite as harsh or experimental tendencies from Spoiler's 1994 debut, which was released on PCP Entertainment, and distributed by Matador Records. Spoiler featured a male/female vocal approach, with lead vocal duties being split between Mark C. and Lin Culbertson. The band at one point included bassist Scott McEwen, a former member of the band Cancer (a precursor to Flower, Versus, etc.), however bass on the record is credited to current album art designer Ben Wheelock.  Spoiler's drummer was Mike Belitsky, who has also played with more alt-country acts like Neko Case, The Sadies, and The Pernice Brothers.  Mark C. has gone on to play with the International Shades with original Sonic Youth drummer Bob Bert, while Lin Culbertson went on to co-found the free improv group White Out, who have recorded for Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label. 

DOWNLOAD

Mars Accelerator - I Am The South Pole (1996, Rx Remedy)

I like to think of Mars Accelerator as the missing link between a band like The Swirlies and a band like Polvo, straddling the line between space rock and math rock.  Hailing from Seattle, I Am The South Pole was the band's debut, released in 1996 on the Sub Pop imprint label Rx. Remedy Records.  Though the band is still active, Sub Pop appears to have since dismantled the Rx. Remedy label, leaving Mars Accelerator's excellent early output unavailable (including their equally rewarding 1998 followup Frankfurt: Telephonics).  Of course, I would remove their download link if it were to be digitally re-released at some point in the future. For now, enjoy Mars Accelerator's debut in all its sonic complexities. 

DOWNLOAD

Trampoline - I Want One of Everybody (1996, SpinART)

Trampoline's claim to fame was being the band led by WHFS (Washington, D.C. radio station) DJ Pat Ferrise with a revolving cast of backing musicians from notable D.C. area indie bands like Edsel, Chisel, Poole, Velocity Girl, and Girls Against Boys.  This was Ferrise's second album under the Trampoline moniker, and was a slight departure from his 1994 debut, Dormer - shifting from jangly pop to more straightforward indie rock.  Though it occasionally flirts with polished alterna/radio rock tendencies, the album's cast of indie rock luminaries ultimately saves it from non-credibility.  The album was produced by Rich Costey, who at this point had worked with bands such as Swirlies and Lilys, and has since gone on to work with some of the bigger names in rock music. 

DOWNLOAD

The Martians - Low Budget Stunt King (1995, Allied)

The Martians were an Athens, GA-based band that included noted drummer Jerry Fuchs, who would later go on to drum for Vineland (ex-Bitch Magnet), Pitchblende, Turing Machine, !!!, Maserati, and others.  According to this post at the Beyond Failure blog, The Martians were closely associated with the fellow Anthens band Fiddlehead, who were also signed to the Allied label. Like Fiddlehead, The Martians spent some time in the studio with the legendary Steve Albini as engineer.  The resulting record, 1995's Low Budget Stunt King, is a collection of noisy math rock not unlike Albini's own bands.  The songs tend to be on the shorter side, and feature some great angular, dissonant guitar work (including the occasional Slint-esque harmonics). Martians member Kyle Spence (also of Fiddlehead) would later join Harvey Milk. 

DOWNLOAD