American Music Club | |
---|---|
Origin | San Francisco, California, United States |
Genres | Indie rock, blues rock, folk rock, Americana, psychedelic rock, slowcore |
Years active | 1982–1994, 2004–present |
Labels | Cooking Vinyl, Merge, Reprise, Virgin, Frontier, Grifter, Zippo, Warner Bros., Demon, Alias |
Associated acts | The Cowboys, The Naked Skinnies, Toiling Midgets |
Website | www.american-music-club.com |
Members |
Mark Eitzel Vudi Steve Didelot |
Past members | Danny Pearson Brad Johnson Matt Norelli Tom Mallon Bruce Kaphan Tim Mooney Sean Hoffman Scott Alexander Greg Bonnell Lisa Davis Joe Goldring Marc Capelle |
American Music Club is an American, San Francisco-based indie rock band, led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel.
Although born in California, Eitzel spent his formative years in Okinawa, Taiwan, Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay Area in 1981. After a brief stint with the bands The Cowboys (one single: "Supermarket"/"Teenage Life") and The Naked Skinnies (one single) he founded American Music Club in San Francisco in 1983 with guitarist Scott Alexander, drummer Greg Bonnell and bass player Brad Johnson. The band went through many personnel changes before arriving at a stable line up of guitarist Vudi, bassist Danny Pearson, keyboardist Brad Johnson and drummer Matt Norelli. This lineup would change over the next several years, but Eitzel always remained the core of the band in terms of its vocals, lyrics and thematic focus, with Vudi and Danny Pearson accompanying him on guitar and bass.
Their 1985 debut, The Restless Stranger, is widely considered as the first slowcore release, establishing the band as major pioneers of slowcore and an early influence on post-rock. It was later followed by 1987's Engine which saw record producer Tom Mallon as a full-time member.
American Music Club earned a solid cult following on the strength of 1988's California. Their next LP, 1989's United Kingdom, appeared only in the nation which lent the record its name and consisted of new material, some of which was recorded live at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco.