Swarm of Angels
| Studded Left/Indian Jewelry | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Houston, Texas, USA |
| Genres | Noise rock, experimental, psychedelic |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels |
The Reverberation Appreciation Society We Are Free Monitor Girlgang Records Lovepump United Tigerbeat6 |
| Associated acts | Pleasure 2 Tex Kerschen & Erika Thrasher Swarm of Angels Twisted Wires NTX+Electric Coxcombs VRS Thousand Cranes Corpses of Waco Perpetual War Party Band |
| Website | http://www.swarmofangels.com |
| Members | Erika Thrasher Tex Kerschen Mary Sharpe Richard Durham |
| Past members | Rodney Rodriguez Brandon Davis |
Studded Left, formerly Indian Jewelry, is a band from Houston, Texas. Since forming in 2002 the band has released eight studio albums, several singles, and toured internationally.
Indian Jewelry was mistakenly supposed by various journalists to have a large, almost all-inclusive membership, and they played off this confusion, often obscuring their identities or leaving them unsaid. As their biography in the program for their performance at the Redcat Theater in Los Angeles stated: "We are legion." In essence, the first consistent studio and touring version of the band, 2002-2008, was Erika Thrasher, Tex Kerschen, Rodney Rodriguez, and Brandon Davis. The ongoing version of the band, under various names, 2008-present, and allowing for overlap, is Erika Thrasher, Tex Kerschen, Mary Sharpe, and Richard Durham.
The Rhapsody music service page dedicated to the band describes them thus: "Indian Jewelry are classic Lone Star State freaks."
The LA Weekly said of the band: "The most mind-controlling band I ever saw was Indian Jewelry. During a set at the Echo four or five or six years ago, they found some top-secret dial on the back of their synthesizer and slowly started turning up the insanity, pounding away at the same unrelenting riff until a roomful of people was twitching and frothing at the mouth. So you could say I've got high hopes for this appearance at Part Time Punks' anniversary show. These weapons-grade Texan psychedelicists match truly primitive electronics, rhythms like Konono N°1, bleeps and wooshes from some kind of Soviet radar system, etc., to unending slo-mo distorto guitar that fills the room like boiling oil and ghost vocals from the other side. Like all Indian Jewelry releases, new album Peel It demands your total commitment. So hear ... and obey." (Chris Ziegler)
Paul Hanford of Dazed described their place as such: "Indian Jewelry stand at a kind of musical crossroads where the gloriously dark moments of rock n'roll's past hang side by side with clunky rave synths and a droned-out attitude."
Furthermore, much has been made of the band's use of strobe lights in a live context: "Urban tribalists Indian Jewelry come on like a fever dream with leathery, swaggering riffs and strobe lights, leaving you wet on the floor." Craig Hlavaty, Houston Press.
Like other underground music bands and their psychedelic rock predecessors, Indian Jewelry are known for sonic and comic experiments.
Tom Murphy of the Denver Westword said of the band: "The state of Texas has sure given us some interesting and innovative musical figures over the years, including the likes of Roky Erickson, Gibby Haynes and Randy Turner. Erika Thrasher and Brandon Davis are certainly sound pioneers in their own right, and whether performing under the name of Indian Jewelry or one of their myriad other monikers (including the hilariously ghoulish Corpses of Waco), this is one act that doesn’t sit comfortably as a noise band, post-punk outfit, no-wave project, psychedelic rock collective or experimental shoegaze freakout. At the same time, there are elements of all that and more in the group’s mind-bending performances. With song titles that suggest more than a passing familiarity with esoteric knowledge and mysticism, Indian Jewelry will mesmerize you with far more than clever rhetoric."
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Wikipedia