Helium is essentially the project of Mary Timony, formerly of the girl punk band Autoclave. Helium formed in 1992 with Brian Dunton on bass and Shawn King Devlin and started releasing 7"s like 1993's The American Jean. 1994 saw the band release the Pirate Prude EP, an interesting but somewhat inaccessible exercise in mixing radical feminism with... [+] Read More

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In their eight-year existence, Jawbox released four studio albums of increasingly skillful post-punk, not necessarily carrying the torch of their Washington, D.C., elders (Minor Threat, Embrace, Rites of Spring), but instead building on the tradition of Chicago's thriving early-'80s scene (Big Black, Naked Raygun, Effigies). Highly and unfairly... [+] Read More

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Following the sudden demise of Rodan, guitarist Jeff Mueller kept Louisville's math rock flame burning with his new band, June of 44. Following in the footsteps of Mueller's earlier band, as well as scene progenitors Slint, June of 44 crafted loud, dissonant, complex guitar rock as intellectual as it was forceful. However, they weren't merely... [+] Read More

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Love Cup played emotionally tinged, guitar-laden noise rock akin to crosstown contemporaries Hum. The Champaign-Urbana group released one full-length, 1996's Feelin Like Seein Aminto Street Grefus Gronks and Sheet, the title of which showed that the band couldn't be faulted for taking themselves too seriously. Singer/guitarist Matt Baldwin's... [+] Read More

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One of the most popular and accomplished bands in the arty, noisy indie rock offshoot dubbed math rock, Polvo touched on many of the style's hallmarks: dissonant, intricately layered guitars that often employed alternate tunings; odd, off-kilter rhythms; an emphasis on dense sonic texture; and unorthodox song structures that, nonetheless, were... [+] Read More

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Prisonshake's approach to rock can be loosely compared to Fugazi. Like Fugazi, the most important thing is the music, and they could not care less about record sales, videos, radio, or glamour. But unlike Fugazi, Prisonshake's record output has been limited to just a couple of full-length albums, plus a slew of singles and appearances on... [+] Read More

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A seminal influence on the avant-garde wing of indie rock, Rodan were habitually likened to fellow Louisville natives and math rock pioneers Slint. And it was true that Slint were a crystal-clear influence on the group's loud, angular art-punk -- easily heard in the extreme dynamic shifts, deliberate tempos, lengthy compositions, and half-spoken... [+] Read More

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