Spokane

slowcore

Spokane was a slowcore band formed by singer-songwriter Rick Alverson in Richmond, Virginia, after the dissolution of his previous 10-member project Drunk. He founded the outfit in 1999 '..with the intention of exploring that small, quiet, sometimes disturbing (and most often ignored) space in life between events and behind the glare of the overly mentionable, and as a vehicle to stand (however quietly) in objection to the West's cultural addiction to the fast, loud and ostentatious'. He released Leisure & Other Songs the following year, a deliberately vacant document of the American experience. Soon thereafter, Courtney Bowles joined as drummer and vocalist, and, along with violinist Karl Runge, the band released its sophomore album The Proud Graduates, which firmly established them as minimalist leaning, devastatingly subtle craftsmen of the quiet pop form, mixing delicate melodies with a strange, conflicted emotion. Its title track contained the memorable phrase you combed your hair/ just like your father told you to/ but your room just isn't the same representational of the longing present on much of the record, along with the barely veiled critiques of Western escapism. The band then quickly recorded and released a Spanish EP entitled Close Quarters. They toured the US and Europe and upon return in 2002 immediately set about producing their 3rd full length release Able Bodies. On returning home from the initial recording session in Bloomington, Indiana, the three suffe...