Band of Susans was an American alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1986 and active until 1996. It originally consisted of Robert Poss (guitar/vocals), Susan Stenger (bass/vocals), Ron Spitzer (drums), with Susan Lyall (guitar), Susan Tallman (guitar), and Alva Rogers (vocals). The band
would undergo several permutations over the years, usually involving three guitarists. Poss, Stenger, and Spitzer were the band's core members throughout its duration. They originated in the New York noise rock scene, but due to their layered guitar sound were sometimes seen as the American counterparts to the UK shoegazing bands and also drew influence from modern experimental composers Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca.
Favoring chaotic squalls of guitar noise and avant textures over the dynamics of conventional songcraft, the New York-based Band of Susans formed in 1986 around the core duo of singers/songwriters Robert
Poss and Susan Stenger, longtime friends who reunited only after pursuing dramatically different musical paths: while Poss became a fixture on the N.Y.C. punk scene in the Clash-inspired Tot Rocket before joing Rhys Chatham's guitar ensemble, Stenger relocated to Prague, where she studied the theories of John Cage. Originally, Band of Susans featured Poss on lead guitar and Stenger on bass, rounded out by guitarists Susan Tallman and Susan Lyall (hence the outfit's name) and drummer Ron Spitzer; four months after forming, they issued their debut EP, Blessing and Curse.
Of the three original Susans who named this noise-loving New York group in the mid-’80s, only bassist/singer Susan Stenger emerged as a mainstay alongside guitarist/songwriter/vocalist Robert Poss (ex-Western Eyes). Together, they navigated the band through high- powered sonic experiments in the
realm of rock songdom. With connections to noted downtown composer (and earplug posterboy) Rhys Chatham’s ensembles as well more conventional bands, the early BoS efforts set simple, repetitive chord/bass patterns in motion and then slathered on layers of vocals and noisy guitar to produce a brisk, visceral flow of magmatic melodicism. The four songs on Blessing and Curse, produced by Poss, locate an exciting niche between anti-music chaos and accessible rock. Dense without being forbidding, “You Were an Optimist” and the speeding “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” (an original) clearly indicate the Susans’ intriguing direction and skill.
In 1988, Band of Susans released their first full-length album, Hope Against Hope; both Tallman and Lyall departed soon after, and were replaced by Page Hamilton (a former student of Glenn Branca, a frequent Susans reference point) and Karen Haglof. Down two Susans, a three-guitar quintet containing
future Helmet founder Page Hamilton made Love Agenda with no diminution in power; the band’s ability to harness distortion, wall-shaking volume and feedback (keeping things just below the chaos line) into well-structured song forms remains a marvelous achievement; the pretentiously poetic art-school lyrics are another matter. The barreling “Because of You” and the droney “It’s Locked Away” are the album’s most impressive tracks. The CD adds a loud but unconvincing cover of the Stones’ “Child of the Moon.”
After 1989's Love Agenda, Hamilton too left the group to found Helmet; he was replaced by Mark Lonergan, and following Haglof's exit, Anne Husick stepped in for 1991's The Word and the Flesh,
which employed a more focused attack, typified by a lesser emphasis on reverb and feedback, to arrive at a more accessible sound. Without the usual attendant line-up changes, Band of Susans issued 1993's dense, droning Veil, followed two years later by Here Comes Success, a uniformly strong collection of lengthy pieces including the instrumental "In the Eye of the Beholder (Song for Rhys)," a tribute to Poss' mentor. In mid-1996, Band of Susans dissolved, although Stenger and Poss continued working with Wire's Bruce Gilbert in the trio GilbertPossStenger in addition to mounting other projects.
LOVE AGENDA
Love Agenda is the second album by Band of Susans, released on April 17, 1989 by Blast First and Restless Records. Page Hamilton, later frontman for Helmet, played guitar on the album and sang the lead vocals on the track "It's Locked Away". Also notable was bassist Susan Stenger singing her first lead vocals on the songs "The Pursuit of Happiness", "Birthmark" and "Hard Light". Poss, who produced the record, mixes his vocals, as well Stenger's occasional backing efforts, fairly deep into the mix throughout the record; rather than being annoying or pointlessly obscure, it just feels right, a good way of letting his voice be another instrument to carry the songs. Perhaps to reference that fact, "Thorn in My Side" and "Sin Embargo" are both instrumentals, and are as great as the of the album. The CD version contains the band's noted cover of the Rolling Stones' "Child of the Moon," which in its guitar-overdriven way pretty much beats out the entire remake of Exile on Main St. that Pussy Galore did.
Band Of Susans – Love Agenda
Label: Restless Records – 7 71425-2, Blast First – 7 71425-2
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock
TRAXS
01. The Pursuit Of Happiness 5:29
02. It's Locked Away 5:10
03. Birthmark 4:09
04. Tourniquet 3:21
05. Thorn In My Side 2:55
06. Sin Embargo 3:43
07. Because Of You 3:52
08. Hard Light 4:41
09. Which Dream Came True 4:55
10. Child Of The Moon (Written-By – Jagger-Richards) 4:10
11. Take The Express 3:25
Band of Susans
Karen Haglof – electric guitar, backing vocals
Page Hamilton – electric guitar, lead vocals (A2)
Robert Poss – electric guitar, lead vocals (A4, B2, B4), production
Ron Spitzer – drums
Susan Stenger – bass guitar, lead vocals (A1, A3, B3)
Written-By – Poss(tracks: 2 to 9, 11), Stenger (tracks: 1, 3, 8)
Thanks for sharing. Good album but the instrumental tracks were insanely awesome guitar jams.
ReplyDelete-psy guy