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:

Jawbox / Burning Airlines

When a band relies on equal artistic contribution from each of its members, its death often results in a multitude of new groups, offering up tangential attempts at their previous work. In most cases, the resulting music falls considerably short of that of the original band. However, when one person is the brainchild for a dead band, there is a much stronger possibility of its reincarnation reaching the heights of the original. J. Robbins was such a mastermind for not one, but two landmark indie bands.

Robbins got his start playing bass with the final lineup of Government Issue, who were one of the most influential bands in the 80's D.C. punk scene. When the band dissolved in 1989, Robbins formed Jawbox with bassist Kim Coletta and drummer Adam Wade. They released their first album, Grippe, on Dischord Records, the most legendary indie label this side of Sub Pop. Bill Barbot joined the group as second guitarist and second singer just before the release of their sophomore record, Novelty. Zach Barocas also joined the band around this time, filling in for Wade. Both of these albums led to their creation of DeSoto Records, which went on to become a fairly successful indie label in its own right.

From the outset, Jawbox's music was intense yet melodic, much like their post-hardcore peers, Shudder to Think. Both bands developed legions of die hard fans that felt as though the bands were their own little secrets. However, both bands left Dischord Records for major labels in 1994, causing a massive outcry from their fans. Jawbox signed to Atlantic Records, and rather than conforming their sound to that of modern rock, they managed to create their unique masterpiece, For Your Own Special Sweetheart. This album yielded two singles, "Savory" and "Cooling Card," both of which received limited play from radio and MTV. After releasing a final self-titled album in 1997, Jawbox were dropped from Atlantic.

While Jawbox was still in its final stages, Robbins and Barbot had been playing on the side with former Government Issue drummer Peter Moffett. They briefly considered including him in Jawbox after Barocas left the band, but this lineup never quite worked out. Jawbox officially broke up, and Robbins, Barbot and Moffett created Burning Airlines, taking their name from a Brian Eno song.

Over the last few years of Jawbox's existence, Robbins started working as a producer for many bands, including Braid, The Promise Ring, and Jawbreaker, to name a few. With Burning Airlines, he worked on both sides of the studio, as the artist and producer. This allowed him to fully develop his songs, playing with different textures and effects as needed.

Burning Airlines recorded two albums on DeSoto Records: 1999's Mission:Control!, and 2001's Identikit. Though they never quite broke into the mainstream, both albums were extremely well received in the indie rock community, and remain highly influential. After the events of September 11, 2001, many venues refused to display the band's name on their marquees, and they considered changing their name. Despite their decision to keep the name, the band broke up within several months.

These days, Bill Barbot and Kim Coletta still run DeSoto Records, now home to such bands as Maritime and The Life and Times. The label has recently purchased the entire Jawbox catalog from Dischord and Atlantic, and released them on iTunes. J. Robbins has become an in-demand producer for indie and punk bands, having most recently worked with Clutch, Against Me!, and Yeasayer. He is also currently playing with two bands: Report Suspicious Activity, a political hardcore band in which he plays bass, and Channels, in which he trades off vocal duties with his wife, Janet Morgan. Even though his bands may dissolve and reform with different combinations of collaborators, J. Robbins will always push the bar higher for indie rock in one way or another.

Check out the video for "Savory" from For Your Own Special Sweetheart here:

Race Car Riot

It is difficult for fans to deal with the loss of a dead band, but they usually have a catalog of multiple albums and/or EPs to remember them by. It is much harder to accept a band's death when they leave only a handful of scattered tracks behind them. Race Car Riot is perhaps the most tragic dead band of all, considering the fact that they professionally recorded only 5 songs during their entire career. This is made even worse by the fact that these songs appear on 3 different albums. Despite their confounding lack of studio material, the few tracks that Race Car Riot did manage to leave behind are absolutely stellar, and suprisingly influential.

The band's first appearance was in 1997, on the poorly named Deep Elm Records compilation, What's Mine Is Yours: The Emo Diaries - Chapter One. Their song "The Last in 4000" is an epic instrumental that instituted the sad yet triumphant sound that is currently selling out venues across the country in the form of fellow Texans, Explosions in the Sky. Deep Elm chose to pick the band up for the first in their split EP series, alongside Planes Mistaken For Stars and the Appleseed Cast. This EP accounted for the majority of their work, with 3 songs, only 1 of which utilized Jason Jordan's vocals. Their final release, the aptly named "Discontinued," did not surface until 2002, on Deep Elm Unreleased Vol. 2.

As a tragic epilogue to Race Car Riot's existence, Jason Jordan created a MySpace page for the band in 2005, announcing that they were regrouping to create a brand new full length. He even posted several new songs that he tracked himself under the alternate band name, The Secret Songs. However, through Jordan's few blog posts, it became clear that the band was not receiving the attention that they had hoped for. The final post, labeled "Musical Doom," reads like a suicide note, announcing that the last remaining member of the band was giving up, leaving him alone, and that if this happened, the band would surely die. There has been no word of any future productivity since.

Check out the band's MySpace page for 2 tracks, as well as their parting words to their fans:
http://www.myspace.com/racecarriot

Braid

When a band finally decides to break up, it is usually unexpected, and often credited towards "personal differences." After the band's demise, their fans are left with the feeling that they should have appreciated them more during their existence. Illinois post-hardcore legends Braid did not abandon their fans in this way, but rather gave them every opportunity to experience their live show before they called it quits. Braid formed in 1993, when Friction drummer/singer Bob Nanna started a side project in which he would play guitar. He met drummer Roy Ewing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who recruited several friends from other bands that were looking for new people to play with.

Braid's lineup underwent many changes at the beginning. Bassist Jay Ryan left the band early on, and was replaced by Todd Bell, who played with Ewing in Lowercase N. They also briefly had a female singer, Kate Reuss, who quit after only their second show in 1993. In 1994, Friction broke up, and Nanna became much more serious about the Braid project. Chris Broach joined in 1994, and eventually took over as second guitarist as well. With their lineup finally set in place, Braid released their debut album, Frankie Welfare Boy Age Five. This record contained 26 tracks - one for each letter of the alphabet. Their sound was inititally very similar to Chicago's Cap'n Jazz, being very complex yet rough hardcore.

By 1996, Braid sounded like a completely different band. Their sophomore LP, The Age of Octeen, found them reaching for a much more pop-oriented sound, though still maintaining their dynamic instrumentation. Songs like "The Chandelier Swing" and "Eulalia, Eulalia" successfully found the right balance between Broach's caustic yelling and Nanna's sweet, sing-song crooning. In 1997, Ewing left the band, and they brought Figurehead drummer Damon Atkinson in to replace him. This incarnation of the band is primarily what they are remembered for. In 1998, they went into the studio with J. Robbins to record Frame & Canvas, which was not only a landmark album for the band, but for the entire genre.

From the opening drumbeat of "The New Nathan Detroits" to the closing goodbyes of "I Keep A Diary," Frame & Canvas is nearly perfect. Elements of pop, emo, hardcore, punk, and indie blended seamlessly into Braid's signature style, which finally realized its potential with this album. Despite the success of this record, Braid determined that they had accomplished far more than they ever had intended to, and decided to break up in 1999. However, rather than simply dropping the band then and there, they announced that they would be playing a final show in each of their hometowns. This gave both the band and their fans the sense of closure that they deserved. The tour was later documented for the film, Killing a Camera.

After breaking up, Nanna, Bell and Atkinson went on to form Hey Mercedes, who released 2 LPs and 3 EPs in the early 2000's. Odd-man out Chris Broach formed The Firebird Band, with whom he still plays today. Nanna and Bell currently play in The City on Film, which they have had as a side project since their days with Braid. In 2001, Polyvinyl Records released a 2-disc set of Braid B-sides called Movie Music Vol. 1 &2, which contained early demos and cover versions of Smiths and Pixies songs, among others. These releases, along with Frame & Canvas, built a posthumous following for the band. In 2004, they decided to cater to these new fans by doing a US/Canada/Japan summer reunion tour. All of these things make Braid's death one of the easiest to deal with, considering that their fans were able to celebrate them in their final hours, rather than mourn them, knowing that they never got to say goodbye.

Check out a live video of "First Day Back" from Frame & Canvas here:

Failure

It would seem that in this forum, a band that refers to themselves as Failure would most likely be a case of tragic irony. The term would certainly be appropriate for the band's attempts at mainstream success, yet it is impossible to classify them this way, due to their technical innovation and overall impact on alternative music. Failure formed in 1990, when vocalist/guitarist Ken Andrews and guitarist/bassist Greg Edwards met through classified ads in Los Angeles. After several years of playing local shows and recording 4-track demos, they went into the studio with producer Steve Albini to record their debut album, Comfort, in 1992. This album was a bit rough around the edges, but firmly introduced their stoner rock sound, characterized by pummeling drums and sludgy basslines.

With the release of Comfort, Failure signed to Slash Records (a subsidiary of Warner Bros.) and went on their first tour with Tool. For their second album, the band decided that they wanted to handle the production themselves. Along with the addition of permanent drummer Kellii Scott, they recorded Magnified, which found the band experimenting with numerous guitar effects and sound layering. In fact, this record sounded so vast, that Ken Andrews became known as the alt-rock Phil Spector, for his virtual "wall of sound." The album gained them plenty of respect from critics and musicians, but only managed to receive very limited radio play.

For their third full-length, Failure decided to rent a house (Lita Ford's house to be precise), so that they could take all of the time that they needed to create what would be their masterpiece, Fantastic Planet. Their diligent attention to detail is evident on the album, as each element seems perfectly set in place to form an epic space rock record. However, during the recording sessions, Slash Records was dropped by Warner Bros., and the record was not released until nearly a year after its completion. The first single, "Stuck On You," reached #31 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in 1996, but this was the pinnacle of their commercial success.

The band finally broke up in 1997, due to personal differences, but the members have managed to keep themselves busy. Kellii Scott went on to play with Blinker the Star, Campfire Girls and Veruca Salt. Greg Edwards formed Autolux, who since went on to collaborate with UNKLE and tour with Nine Inch Nails. Ken Andrews has been the most prolific in the wake of Failure, both as a musician and a producer. He has released two albums with new bands: ON, an electronic-based departure, and Year of the Rabbit, which brought him back to guitar rock. In 2007, he released his first album under his own name, Secrets of the Lost Satellite, getting help from his friends in Beck's backup band. He is now known better for his work as a producer, working with bands like Blink-182, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and even Tenacious D.

Check out the video for "Stuck On You" from Fantastic Planet here:

The Promise Ring

There is a great dilemma that nearly every band must face when their youth begins to fade. They can adjust the sound and subject matter of their music, at the risk of alienating their fans, or they can simply give up. Sometimes, they do both at once, as in the case of the Promise Ring. In 1995, Cap'n Jazz guitarist/vocalist Davey von Bohlen started the band as a side project with a few friends from his hometown of Milwaukee, WI. When Cap'n Jazz called it quits that same year, the Promise Ring became his primary focus. They released their first album, 30 Degrees Everywhere, in 1996 on Jade Tree Records. This record was severely underproduced, and although the music was certainly catchy, von Bohlen's vocals were nearly inaudible.

After a year of touring, the band entered the studio with producer/Jawbox singer J. Robbins, who was the premier post-hardcore producer at the time. The result was Nothing Feels Good, a flawless integration of indie rock and pop music. With von Bohlen's vocals mixed properly, audiences could finally hear his clever wordplay delivered through an endearing lisp. Despite the critical praise that the album received, the Promise Ring were the first band that was truly tormented by the term "emo." They were constantly referred to as the posterboys for the genre, even though they denied their affiliation at every press opportunity. After several EP's that expanded their sound a bit, they went back into the studio with Robbins to record Very Emergency in 1999.

Very Emergency found the Promise Ring leaving their indie/emo sound in the dust, focusing completely on the pop aspect of their music. In most cases, this would devastate the fanbase for an indie band, but the record was so upbeat and exuberant that it not only maintained current fans, but increased their commercial popularity exponentially. The band toured for 3 years on this record, and eventually released their final album, Wood/Water in 2002. It was clear at this point, with the band well into their 30's, that they were simply too old to write the joyous teenage anthems they once did. The record ended up sounding like a completely different band. The music had slowed down significantly, with the band attempting to introduce more dynamic elements, most of which were completely out of place, i.e. full church choir. It seemed that after this album, neither the band nor their fans were content with this new, "mature" identity.

The Promise Ring broke up in 2002 after the Wood/Water tour. Bassist Scott Schoenbeck began playing with Dashboard Confessional, the outfit where emo musicians go to die. Von Bohlen and drummer Dan Didier formed a new band with ex-Dismemberment Plan bassist Eric Axelson. They started out calling themselves English, but later changed their name to Maritime. Thankfully, their music sounds nothing like the latter days of the Promise Ring, but more like what one would have expected them to release off of the heels of Very Emergency. The Promise Ring played one reunion show in 2005 for the Flower 15 Festival at the Metro in Chicago. Just last month, rumors began circulating that they have been invited to play a forthcoming All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Milwaukee, curated by Compound Red guitarist Jim Minor.

Check out the video for "Emergency, Emergency" from Very Emergency here:

Glassjaw

It is debatable whether or not they are technically "dead," but nonetheless, Long Island's Glassjaw are good example of how detrimental lack of structure can be to a band. The group, which constisted of only 4 members at a time, has had no less than 19 different people go in and out of its revolving doors over the course of their existence. Glassjaw began in 1993, when vocalist Daryl Palumbo and Justin Beck met at summer camp. Both had been playing in straight-edge hardcore bands, and decided to join forces to scale the NYHC scene. These two were the only constant members of the band until they released their first EP, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, on 2 Cents a Pop Records in 1997.

Although they were already huge in New York, Glassjaw still had practically no national exposure when they signed with Roadrunner Records in 1999. They were, for some reason, matched up with renowned butt-rock producer Ross Robinson (Korn, Limp Bizkit). Despite this bizarre choice, the resulting product was the stunning full-length, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence. This is often cited as being a landmark post-hardcore album.

On EYEWTKAS, the band expanded the genre's typical loud/soft dynamic, with unusual time signatures and pummeling guitar riffs. However, the real focal point of the band was Palumbo, whose maniacal vocals sounded like an even more schizophrenic Mike Patton. His lyrics were unabashedly misogynistic, giving his ferocious screaming added bite with such lines as, "I only beat you when I'm drunk / You're only pretty when you're crying." However, this onstage persona directly reflected the fragile state of Palumbo's real life, due to his suffering from Crohn's disease. This pain was a major theme for the album, so much so that his daily pill box was the image on the cover.

Despite the critical success of their first album, Roadrunner Records failed to market it enough for them to gain any mainstream exposure. In 2001, they secretly recorded their follow up with Ross Robinson. Having lost two members on their previous tour, the band used studio musicians to create Worship & Tribute, which they eventually sold to Warner Bros. Records. This album displayed the band's versatility with songs like "Ape Dos Mil" and "The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports," which were considerably less venomous than their previous work, yet no less engaging. They toured extensively with this album, joining Ozzfest, Warped, and the Snocore Tour, before announcing their hiatus in 2004.

Glassjaw have not released an album since Worship & Tribute, but have been discussing the possibility of a 3rd LP off-and-on for the past few years, with no mention of who exactly would be involved. After the hiatus, Palumbo quickly began work on a side project with legendary hip-hop producer Dan the Automator (Gorillaz, Deltron 3030), to make the strictly pop group Head Automatica. After Automator moved onto other things, Palumbo recruited a full band to maintain the project, which has since seen greater commercial success than Glassjaw ever did. He also recently released an LP with United Nations, a metalcore group featuring Thursday vocalist, Geoff Rickley, as well as members of Converge and Made Out of Babies. Glassjaw have played several assorted shows with little advance notice since 2007, but have never fully regrouped. Until this next album materializes, it is relatively safe to say that Glassjaw is still a dead band.

Check out the music video for "Cosmopolitan Bloodloss" from Worship & Tribute, in which the entire band is murdered by Vincent Gallo, here: