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BAND OF SUSANS

In the 1980s, when New York's art-noise scene was at its apex, British imprint Blast First willingly signed its innovators. In a quick swoop, the label became the home of Sonic Youth, Big Black, Dinosaur Jr. and Band Of Susans. The group was the latest in New York's lineage of bands melding rock with the avant-garde - a pedigree that began in the late 1960s with The Velvet Underground.

Formed by avant-garde flautist Susan Stenger and guitarist Robert Poss, Band Of Susans was a rock band without the rock clichés…. Each instrument was given its own part, and they fitted together like building blocks to create droning, dense textures.

The band's name came from the trio of Susans in the group's original line-up: Stenger on bass and Susans Tallman and Lyall on guitars. With Poss serving as the third guitarist and Ron Spitzer on drums, the quintet released the Blessing And Curse EP in 1987. The poppy single "Hope Against Hope" was chosen by Melody Maker as Single of the Week.


 

Waves of distortion blew across the Susans' 1988 debut LP, Hope Against Hope. Unusual tunings, and staccato drums and melody lines that proceeded vertically rather than horizontally, made the listener feel caught in an electrical storm. Tallman and Lyall departed prior to 1989's Love Agenda; the vacancies were filled by Karen Haglof, who had played in Rhys Chatham's guitar ensembles with Poss and Stenger, and Page Hamilton, who later formed Helmet. The new line-up's songs were grinding and angular, as melody lines stopped, started and shifted to expose underlying layers. The blues - as well as The Rolling Stones' version of them - threaded through the music. The Stones' influence eventually culminated in the 1992 Susans' EP Now, which featured instrumental and vocal versions of "Paint It Black".

By the time the Susans' 1991 tribute to the E chord - entitled The Word And The Flesh - was released, guitarists Mark Lonergan and Anne Husick had replaced Haglof and Hamilton. The subsequent LP, Veil (1993), supplanted R&B rhythms with crunched sonic shards. 1995's Here Comes Success - a title meant as both a sarcastic barb and a nod to Iggy Pop - used rock beats to aerate melodic, prolonged compositions. Also released in 1995 was the greatest hits compilation Wired For Sound, which devoted one disc to songs with vocals and another to instrumentals, an often overlooked component of the Susans' work.

(Julie Taraska, Excerpt from The Rough Guide To Rock)

For more information, photos and updates follow Band Of Susans on Facebook or on see Videos on  YouTube

BOS Rarities, demos, unreleased tracks and live recordings can be found at this Bandcamp site: 

https://robertposs.bandcamp.com

Click below to listen to select tracks, read press and interviews, or purchase records.

DISCOGRAPHY

ALBUMS

BLESSING AND CURSE

1987 EP (Trace Elements Records)

BLESSING AND CURSE 

1987 EP with Different Artwork (Further)
HOPE AGAINST HOPE

1988 (Blast First)
LOVE AGENDA

1989 (Blast First/Restless)

THE WORD AND THE FLESH

1991 (Restless/Rough Trade Germany World Services)

THE PEEL SESSIONS

1992 EP (Strange Fruit/Dutch East India)

NOW

1992 EP (Restless/World Service/Blue Records)

VEIL

1993 (Restless/World Service)

WIRED FOR SOUND

1994 (Blast First/World Service)

HERE COMES SUCCESS

1995 (Restless/Blast First/World Service)

SINGLES

HOPE AGAINST HOPE

1987 (Further)

MOOD SWING/

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF SUSAN

1993 (Restless/Sing Fat)

COMPILATION 

APPEARANCES

NOTHING SHORT OF TOTAL WAR

1989 (Blast First)

THE DEVIL'S JUKEBOX

1989 (Blast First) - 7" set version of above

JOURNEY INTO PAIN

1989 (Beast 666 Tapes, Japan)

SURPRISE YOUR PIG

1992 (Staplegun Records)

THE LOST WEEKEND

1993 (Purr Magazine/Blast First)

SEARCH & DISOBEY

1993 (Purr Magazine/Blast First)

VARIOUS ARTISTS PLAY WIRE - WHORE

1996 (WMO/Caroline)

DUGGA DUGGA DUGGA

1998 (WMO)

FLEXIS

Band Of Susans have appeared in the following magazines:

ABUS DANGEREUX (France)

THE CATALOGUE (France)

CHEMICAL IMBALANCE (England)

REFLEX (Blast First 7")

SOUND AFFECTS (Sweden)

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