13. SAF FF Pell Mell
| US, Indie / New Wave / Post-punk www.pellmell.org/ Pell Mell Myspace www.myspace.com/unofficialpellmell Arni May Jon-Lars Sorenson Bill Owen Bob Beerman Greg Freeman Steve Fisk David Spalding Label: Indoor / Sub-Pop / K / SST / Geffen-DGC / Matador | |
 ABOUT, in MyspaceBetween 1980 and 1997 Pell Mell created instrumental music and charmed the world! Pell Mell was formed in 1980 in Portland Oregon by drummer Robert Beerman, guitarists Bill Owen and Arni May, and bassist Mike Schenk. After recording two tracks for the early Portland compilation album "Trap Sampler", Mike left and was replaced on bass by Jon-Lars Sorenson. This version of the band recorded the "Rhyming Guitars" 12" EP and some compilation tracks for Sub Pop's early cassette releases, and also played a number of shows in the Northwest and did a brief tour of the Eastern United States. Arni left the band in 1981, and this trio version of Pell Mell performed and recorded the "Live Cassette" release in 1982. In 1983 keyboardist and producer Steve Fisk joined the band and we moved down to the San Francisco Bay Area, where we were in negotiations with Rough Trade for an album release entitled "The Bumper Crop". During this time Jon-Lars returned to the Northwest and Greg Freeman joined on bass. The deal with Rough Trade fell through, and we took a break in 1984 for a few years until 1988. During this lull we released some of the unreleased Rough Trade sessions along with some live recordings on a cassette on K Records entitled "For Years We Stood Clearly As One Thing". In 1986 SST Records became interested in re-releasing earlier recordings, and so "The Bumper Crop" was released along with a new remixed version of "Rhyming Guitars". With new guitarist Dave Spalding, we returned to activity in 1989 as a five-piece. At this point we were all living in five different cities across the U.S., but this didn't slow us down! We wrote a lot of new material by recording demo ideas on 1/2" 8-track tape decks and sending the tapes to each other. These ideas were fleshed out in 1991 when we came together in San Francisco and recorded a new studio LP named "Flow" for SST. Bill Owen left in 1993 and as a four-piece we recorded two records for Geffen/DGC, "Interstate" (finished in 1994 in Boston at Fort Apache with Tim O'Heir) and "Star City" (recorded in 1997 in Hollywood with Tchad Blake). DGC decided not to release "Star City" however, and so Matador released this last studio album in 1997. Along the way we have had our music licensed for use on HBO ("Six Feet Under", "Sex and the City"), MTV ("Road Rules"), PBS, Bravo and a number of other television broadcasts, as well as for a national TV spot for Microsoft. We have also created original music for a number of films, including the comedy group The Kids In The Hall feature film "Brain Candy", and the 1999 documentary film "The Green Monster" for PBS about race car pioneer Art Arfons. Currently Robert Beerman is busy with grimspex, his collaboration with Gary Waleik from Big Dipper. Beerman and Steve Fisk record together as Cut-Out. Dave Spalding keeps busy playing solo shows and recording his songs, mainly in New York City. Greg Freeman collaborates with Jeff Palmer (Granfaloon Bus, Radar Brothers, Sister Double Happiness) in the electronic duo checksum. | A short history from The Trouser Press Record Guide "Pell Mell has often been compared to such early rock instrumental figures as Link Wray and Duane Eddy, even though the band's shimmering keyboards and guitar sound owe little stylistic allegiance to such supposed forebears. In one respect, however, the comparison is apt: while most modern- or prog-rock instrumental groups favor abstract composition over articulated songwriting, Pell Mell's best material--like that of Wray and Eddy--sounds like genuine songs, songs that swing and move, songs that build, peak, and fall, songs that just happen to not have lyrics or vocals. "Since the group first coalesced in Portland, Oregon, around 1980, Pell Mell's members--the most nationally prominent of whom is keyboard player Steve Fisk, who joined in 1983--have come and gone over the years, with most of the lineups scattered around various northwestern and California cities. (Founding drummer Bob Beerman and bassist Greg Freeman have been in place the longest; both they and Fisk are on The Bumper Crop, a collection of tracks from '83 and '84 that overlaps, song-wise, For Years We Stood Clearly As One Thing.) Geographical impediment has led the group to write its songs by mail--someone will get an idea, lay it down on tape and mail the tape to a bandmate, who in turn overdubs his ideas and so on, until the tune is completed. When enough material has been compiled in this manner, Pell Mell convenes, finishes the songs and records them. Pell Mell pic "Pell Mell's 1980s sound, interesting but inconsistent, received a bit of a makeover when guitarist Dave Spalding joined the band in time for 1992's Flow album. Spalding not only recharged the group's songwriting batteries (he's credited with seven of the album's eleven tunes), he also redirected their instrumental focus from keyboards to guitars. The result is an album full of songs that are crisp and sharp where some previous Pell Mell efforts had meandered and dragged. Highly recommended. "The success of Flow helped make Pell Mell one of the more intriguing major-label signings of the 1990s--who could have imagined Geffen being interested in an all-instrumental group? The resulting album, 1995's Interstate, is a solid continuation of Flow's sound..." So much for major-label intrigue. The current album Star City was recorded for Geffen, but made available to us when the band was dropped prior to its release; we eagerly scooped it up, being longtime fans of the band and impressed by its range and consistency. Star City is Pell Mell's most exciting and accomplished work to date. DISCOGRAPHY Pell Mell pic |
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