The Belltower

The Belltower
The Belltower, 1992. L-R: Nino Dmytryszyn, Britta Phillips and Jody Porter.
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, USA
Genres	Alternative rock, shoegazing, dream pop
Years active	c.1990–1996
Labels	Ultimate, East West
Past members	Jody Porter Britta Phillips Nino Dmytryszyn Mark Browning Adam Schlesinger

The Belltower was an American alternative rock band from New York City often associated with the shoegazing scene, with members who later joined Luna and Fountains of Wayne.

The band was formed by singers/guitarists Britta Phillips and Jody Porter in the early 1990s. They added Mark Browning, before relocating to London in 1990, where they recorded their debut EP Exploration Day, with Terry Bickers acting as producer. One of the earliest American bands to be considered part of the "shoegazing" genre, in reality they were more pop-oriented, gaining comparisons with artists including The Cure, The Sundays, and Swervedriver. The song "Exploration Day" was named by the NME as "single of the week". Two more singles followed before the band's only album, Popdropper, was released in 1992. Phillips and Porter returned to the United States and recruited Adam Schlesinger on bass, although there would only be one further release, the "Underwatertown" single in 1995, before the band split up in 1996.

Porter later performed with Fountains of Wayne, for whom Schlesinger played bass, and later formed Astrojet. Schlesinger also played with Ivy. Phillips joined Ultrababyfat, and later Ben Lee and Luna, after which she continued a partnership with Dean Wareham.