Botch

It is very rare for a band to have such an impact on rock music that they end up inventing a new sub-genre. Creativity and ingenuity are hard qualities to come by in an art that has been so historically defined by plagiarism. Tacoma, Washington's Botch single-handedly created and perfected the "mathcore" genre. The band seemed perfectly in synch with each other on their 2 LPs and countless EPs, but their 2002 breakup revealed that each member had the capability to develop their own unique sound, without drawing any direct comparison to Botch.

Botch formed in 1993, when guitarist Dave Knudson and drummer Tim Latona were still in high school. Early on, they spent most of their time attempting to play Helmet covers in their newly-discovered drop-D tuning. These two chose the name by simply opening a dictionary. Bassist Brian Cook and vocalist Dave Verellen soon joined the band, and they played their first show in Verellen's garage on Halloween of 1993. They released a demo tape in 1994 (of which all of the members are embarrassed), and eventually did a mini-tour of Canada, with Verellen's father as tour manager/chaperone.

The band finally got a break when they went on tour with Ink and Dagger and nineironspitfire in 1997. That same year, they played a show in Buffalo, NY with Snapcase for over 1,000 people, which was by far the biggest live exposure that they had recieved. Around this time, they were approached by Hydra Head CEO and ISIS vocalist, Aaron Turner, to contribute a cover of Black Sabbath's "The Wizard" for a 7" series. The band ended up sending him an entire album's worth of songs, and Turner decided to sign them to Hydra Head. They re-recorded these songs with Matt Bayles (ISIS, Mastodon) in Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard's studio in 1998. The resulting product was American Nervoso. While very rough around the edges, this album re-invented hardcore, neglecting the typical "chugga-chugga" riffs for mercurial guitar shredding, and completely abandoning the tough-guy mentality.

After the release of their first full-length, Botch toured relentlessly and released several split EPs with nineironspitfire, the Murder City Devils, Cave In, and Knut. However, it was not until 2000 that they truly perfected the "mathcore" sound, with the release of We Are The Romans. This album still stands as the pinnacle of the genre, and has been emulated by literally hundreds of bands today. Latona's odd time signatures are matched perfectly by Knudson's unprecedented guitar riffs, while Verellen's vicious bark continually increases the ferocity of their songs. This album was beloved in the underground hardcore/metal scene, but went mostly unnoticed in the big picture.

By 2002, all of the band members had been playing with side projects that were becoming more and more serious. They released their final EP, An Anthology of Dead Ends, and decided to disband shortly thereafter. They chronicled their final performance at the Showbox in Seattle on a DVD titled 061502, which perfectly captures the utter chaos of their live show. Since then, Verellen has gone on to play drums in Roy, and is currently singing in the metalcore band, Narrows. Brian Cook is currently the singer in Roy, and plays bass in both These Arms Are Snakes and Russian Circles. Knudson has made the most drastic shift of the group, as he is now the showstopping, finger-tapping lead guitarist in Minus the Bear. The band recently released a statement on their MySpace page, saying: "There is no reunion in the works. As proud as we are of the band and as much as we're still friends, there is no plan to do a reunion. Zero, zilch, nada. However, we do appreciate everyone's continuing interest in the band. Thanks."

Check out the video for "St. Matthew Returns to the Womb" from We Are The Romans here:

Sharks Keep Moving

There are some music scenes that are so tightly knit and incestuous, that it is difficult to tell where one band starts and another begins. For example, in the early 80's, D.C.'s hardcore scene was based around Ian Mackaye and various Dischord affiliates, from Minor Threat all the way to Fugazi. In the early 90's, nearly every Chicago indie band was somehow involved with Cap'n Jazz and the Kinsella brothers. Today, it is difficult to find a Canadian band that is not associated with Broken Social Scene. Such collectives give birth to groups with varying levels of success and longevity, but are also inevitably responsible for a staggering number of casualties.

One of the most underrated indie scenes of the last decade is that of Seattle, Washington. Having kept relatively quiet after the demise of the grunge movement, the city began churning out a network of bands in the late 90's that are surprisingly relevant today. Sharks Keep Moving was one of the seminal bands of this scene. In 1997, after the dissolution of their relatively unknown post-hardcore group, State Route 522, Jake Snider, Nathan Turpen and Jeff DeGolier decided to change their sound a bit. Although always highly technical, they evolved into a more jazz-tinged, melodic indie format. They were joined by drummer Dan Dean in 1998, and released a split 7" with The Kentucky Pistol - Rocky Votolato's first band.

Between their built-in fanbase from State Route 522 and the momentum of the split EP, Sharks Keep Moving eventually gained the attention of both Second Nature Records and Status Records. They recorded the Desert Strings & Drifters EP with producer Matt Bayles, and released it on Second Nature. On this record, the band completely expanded their horizons, with odd time signatures and extended instrumental stretches. After the EP's release, Jeff DeGolier left the band, and was replaced by Morgan Henderson of the Blood Brothers.

In 1999, after some brief touring of the west coast, they went back into the studio with Matt Bayles, and recorded a self-titled full length, which they would release on Status. This album found the band nearing the 10-minute mark on several tracks, half of which were instrumental. When Snider did sing, the lyrics were delivered with a laid-back croon, generally dealing with Pacific Northwest pastimes, such as drinking, driving, smoking, and sailing. The band kept relatively quiet during the next year, and Dan Dean eventually left the band. He was soon replaced by J. Clark of Kill Sadie. After months of rumors that they were in the process of recording, the band finally released a 3-song EP titled Pause and Clause. Although this EP developed their sound even further, incorporating more jazz elements into the mix, it was the last collection of songs that they would record.

Sharks Keep Moving did not break up because of lack of exposure, personal differences, or any other of the many reasons that typically lead to a band's demise. Rather, these musicians were so prolific, that they could not maintain this band among the many others that they were involved in. Snider has found the greatest level of success as the lead singer/guitarist for the math-rock supergroup, Minus the Bear. J. Clark went on to form the female-fronted post hardcore group, Pretty Girls Make Graves, who broke up after 3 albums. He is currently playing in the Matador Records art-punk band, Jaguar Love. Morgan Henderson continued to play with the Blood Brothers until they broke up last year. Status Records announced that they were preparing a Sharks Keep Moving B-sides/remix CD back in 2001, but little has been said on the matter since.

Check out "Tied To The Tracks" from Pause and Clause here: