New Sweet Breath - 20th Century Masters: The Singles Collection (1994-97)

Unbeknownst to even the most scholarly of ear-to-the-ground indie-rock geeks, Seattle's New Sweet Breath set up shop at the twilight of grunge's halcyon era. Immigrating from Lincoln, NE in the early '90s, the Graig Markel-helmed trio, also consisting of bassist Nicholas S. Rock and drummer Daze E. Hazel specialized in fuzzed-to-the-hilt, distorto indie-punk, coupling static-ridden noize with a melodic sensibility unparalleled since Husker Du. The singles this post concerns, as well as their first two albums, Supersound Speedway (1995) and Demolition Theatre (1996) (both on Ringing Ear Records), are unabashedly lo-fi. New Sweet Breath's adoption of such a seemingly meager recording ethic, may have been the product of financial constraints, but in the end, it worked very much to their advantage.

The majority of the selections presetned here hover at or below the two-minute mark, and while the visceral thrill of any given NSB song is all too fleeting, another one is just around the corner. I have organized their three singles and two split singles in rough chronological order, starting with "Blessed" b/w "Black to Blue," on what may have been their own label, Major Appliance Records. Sinkhole, who share the side of NSB's first split 7", were the flagship band for the aforementioned Ringing Ear Records. I have more affection for their second split release, the one with Virgina's short-lived Hefty, who's "Mean" packs a blistering but tuneful wallop that rivals NSB themselves, but doesn't quite beat them at their own game.

Their third album, A Shotgun Down an Avalanche, on Big Top Records helped to expand NSB's visibility, but after one more release, a riveting six-song ep, Acceleration and Distortion, issued on Mag Wheel Records (still available I believe, as well as the single) went on one might call, indefinite hiatus.

Post-NSB, Graig has released several solo albums, including Hard Grammar, Verses on Venus (both on Mag Wheel) and his latest, Via Novella, on his in-house Recovery label. Our man has also been having all kinds of fun with his latest project, The Animals at Night.

New Sweet Breath - singles tracklist

Major Appliance Records 7" (1995)

01. Blessed

02. Black to Blue

Ringing Ear Records 7" (1996)

03. Silka

04. Late

05. News to Me

Mag Wheel Records 7" (1996)

06. Go Aay

07. When It's All Said

split w/ Sinkhole (Ringing Ear) (1997)

08. Supersound Speedway (NSB)

09. Scractehd (NSB)
10. My Life (Sinkhole)

11. Dogs That Spit Bees (Sinkhole)

split w/ Huffy (1996)

12. Nice Lipgloss! (NSB)

13. 9ine Lives (NSB)

14. Armchair President (Hefty)

15. Mean (Hefty)

In addition to the disocgraphy at the New Sweet Breath Myspace page, an alternate version can be found here.

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New Sweet Breath - album taster (1994-99, various labels)

One of my main moral quandaries in regards to running this blog is that I could potentially be diminishing the sales of the very artists I attempt to promote and/or archive, which is why I stick with out of print or commercially unavailable releases. New Sweet Breath one of my top-tier '90s favorites (who I dedicated a post to last year that strictly dealt with their singles) pose a particular dilemma. Their three proper albums (Supersound Speedway, Demolition Theater, and A Shotgun Down an Avalanche) as well as their parting ep (Acceleration & Distortion) are all out of print, but still available for purchase from the respective labels that released them. In light of this fact, I cannot in good conscience share them in their entirety, but instead have assembled a collection of two (or three) songs apiece from each of them as an incentive of sorts for you to do some further investigation by visiting the links I've provided below, and hopefully parting with a few well spent dollars (or Euros, or pounds, etc).

Unbeknownst to even the most scholarly of ear-to-the-ground indie-rock geeks, Seattle's New Sweet Breath set up shop at the twilight of grunge's halcyon era. Immigrating from Lincoln, NE in the early '90s, the Graig Markel-helmed trio, also consisting of bassist Nicholas S. Rock and drummer Daze E. Hazel specialized in fuzzed-to-the-hilt, distorto indie-punk, coupling static-ridden noize with a melodic sensibility rivaling Superchunk and Husker Du. Each of their aforementioned singles were truly the best of both whirls, and their full-lengths were just as stimulating. I've presented the songs in chronological order to give you a sense of their creative and performance progression. "Broken Toys," the fifth track was only available on the vinyl version of their sophomore disk, Demolition Theatre, and from what I can tell that incarnation of the album is sold out (though the CD isn't).

Graig Markel has since pursued a solo career and now fronts the markedly different electronica endeavor The Animals at Night.

from: Supersound Speedway (1995, Ringing Ear Records)

01. Tales From a Loaded Gun

02. Big Stories

from: Demolition Theater (1996, Ringing Ear Records)

03. Reptillian Ink

04. Throw It All Away

05. Broken Toys (vinyl only)

from: Shotgun Down an Avalanche (1997, Big Top)

06. Hand Me Downs

07. Favorite Things

from: Acceleration & Distortion ep (1999, Mag Wheel)

08. New Disease

09. Shine

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Graig Markel and the 88th St. Band - s/t (In Spades) & D. Smith - Groping for Luna, Vol. 1 (Dromedary) - A brief overview.

Graig Markel is back with a trio, and it's not (exactly anyway) his old Seattle three piece of yore, New Sweet Breath whom I've revered over the years.  In fact Markel ditched the distorto-punk thing almost two decades back, branching out considerably.  His new enterprise, Graig Markel and the 88th St. Band is touted as being forged on a foundation of soul and blues, but truth be told that isn't that drastic of a departure when you consider he was was dabbling with posh urban contemporary grooves and flavors all the way back on his 2000 solo outing Hard Grammar.  Ditto for his "R&B" dalliance with the newly minted 88th St Band, though I will concede the opening "Don't Stop" and "Back Into My Arms" adopt sonic motifs and textures that aren't far removed from the Stax and Motown aesthetic.  "Blame it on You" and "Take a Walk" on the other hand, wield an economical, mid-fi spin on the dirty garage stomp of the White Stripes and the Black Keys.

Post-Twentieth Century, Markel has really perfected an indigenous knack for crafting bittersweet soliloquies that split the difference between contemplative ballads and relaxed-fit jams.  "Holding On" and "Live It Up" fit said bill perfectly, and sound like business as usual even with new drummer Joe Patterson, and bassist bro and NSB alum Nicholas Markel in tow.  When all is said and drummed, the finished product isn't so much a purist genre piece, so much as a solid set of new Graig Markel tunes with some slight and often welcome tweaks to keep things from getting stale.  BTW, for those of you who indulged in Graig's insular 2012 solo album (highly recommended I might add), ...the 88th Street Band is considerably less despondent. Buy a CD here or digitally thru CD Baby, Amazon or iTunes.  You can preview one song in the sampler linked below.

Onto D. Smith (aka Dan Smith).  Remember the band Shirk Circus?  Yeah, I had a hunch you probably didn't, but you can catch up on them via a feature I wrote in 2011, in memoriam of front-man Josh Silverman.  Smith played bass for them, and from what I understand, Groping for Luna, Vol. 1 is his solo debut.  Alternating between muscular melodic rock and quieter reflective pieces, Groping... is chockablock with sixteen pensive and considered numbers that tend to err on the side of melancholy.  Comparisons to Bob Mould are inevitable, but if you're anything like me you might also hear traces of likeminded singer songwriters including but not limited to Jon Sondgrass (Armchair Martian, Drag the River) and Mark Eitzel.  Despite his weariness at times, Smith manages to brew up a howling, manicured maelstrom on some of Groping's most assertive slammers, nicely exemplified on "Worst Case Secnario," and "An Ultimatum."  You can preview/purchase the whole thing at Bandcamp or via the stream at Big Takeover online.  Hard copies are available from Dromedary Records, and as usual, iTunes and Amazon have you covered digitally. 

Graig Markel - Graig Markel (2012, Recovery) - A brief overview

Upon discovering his Seattle noise-pop trio New Sweet Breath back in 1995, via their first full length, Supersound Speedway, my appreciation for Graig Markel's music grew and grew with each successive record that he had any involvement with, whether it be more outings with NSB, his electronic offshoot Animals at Night, and not the least of which solo recordings.  By my count, 2012's brand new self-titled platter is his sixth under his own name, following up 2007's Via Novella.  Hardly spending the last four years slaving over an ornate, orchestral rock tour de force, a la Brian Wilson in the late '60s, Markel instead returns to the table with a refreshingly lucid batch of ten acoustic songs, tracked straight to analog tape in his domicile studio.

Far from a wordsmith in league with the likes of Waits, Westerberg, or Pollard, Graig Markel's isn't an erudite or arty scribe, rather it's the voice that sinks in so indelibly.  His sparse, no-frills arrangements lend a purity to this collection, perfectly befitting it's melancholic tenor, that wisely eschews any wrought or maudlin transgressions.  Par exemple, "My Last Words," as it's title implies, mines a mournful vein, but no more so than Nick Drake's Pink Moon, a classic he's apparently taken to heart.  Economical yet thoroughly substantive, Markel's balled-esque soliloquies are undeniably straightfoward, but soothingly uplifting.  Graig Markel is available from CD Baby, and on white vinyl through his website, but if you need any further convincing embrace the sound on his Soundcoud page.

Splitting the Difference # 31 Doc Hopper/Bollweevils 7" (1996, Ringing Ear)

You are just a few clicks of the mouse away from hearing two of the best 1990s punk bands that in all likelihood never made it onto your radar. From the great state of Maine we have Doc Hopper, a thrashy popcore quartet that lasted a little over a decade, and as you might guess made nary a dent on the national scene, despite not being terribly removed stylistically than a band who's initials happen to be G.D. Big Drill Car and Husker Du also made quite an impression on them as well. I believe Hopper had three albums to their credit (Aloha, Ask Your Mom, and Zigs Yaws and Zags), a live split album with Weston, and yet another joint venture with New Jersey denizens El Secondhand, plus a plethora of singles. Their two cuts represented here are fairly quintessential.

The Bollweevils were a frantic power-punk trio hailing from the Windy City, who broke up in the late '90s, but have reunited sporadically for live gigs through much of this decade. Taking some serious cues from old school homeboys Naked Raygun and the Effigies, the 'Weevils rapid-fire salvos were on par with the tempo thresholds set by Bad Religion and 7 Seconds. A white-hot original, "Hit or Miss" leads their side off, and is quickly followed up by a cover of the Descendants undeniable cult classic "Silly Girl." I can't recommend the Bollweevils Stick Your Neck Out LP, and singles/rarities compilations, History of the Bollweevils Pts. 1 & 2, all issued courtesy of the one of the best indie labels of the '90s, Dr. Strange Records. Incidentally, the same label that released this wax, Ringing Ear Records was also responsible for issuing some of the New Sweet Breath 45s I compiled earlier this year.

 

Doc Hopper

01. Zapruder

02. Shortsheeted

 

Bollweevils

01. Hit or Miss

02. Silly Girl
 

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Singles Going Single #176 - Graig Markel 7" (1999, -ismist)

You wouldn't know it from the scalding, white-hot cocoon of feedback and tuneful thrust that encompassed virtually every recorded note laid down by Seattle's New Sweet Breath, but lurking in the midst of that gloriously, amp-ridden raucous was frontman Graig Markel, who when separated from his cohorts (bassist Nicholas Rock and skinsman Jeff Hazel) was adept at composing some of the most contemplative and transporting singer-songwriter soundscapes that have ever met this set of ears.  Really, the guy's that good, and all the proof you need lies in the grooves of his initial volley of solo records (Verses on Venus, Hard Grammar, among others) and for that matter this single, which appears on -ismist Records, a label that Graig goes back a long way with.  The lucid and sheik, neo-cosmopolitan sumptuousness of "July" and "Sugar in Bloom" find Markel crossing into thresholds that NSB never envisioned, and I like to think serve as an appetizer to those aforementioned full-lengths.  In the years following this humble 45, he turned his muse to the electronica endowed Animals at Night, and even more recently our man is back with some brand new solo jams for you to devour over at his Soundcloud page. 

A. July
B. Sugar in Bloom

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A few restored links.

By request.

The Acid Drops - 7"

American Standard - Wonderland & 7"

Aviators - Deed to a Ranch ep 

Jim Basnight and the Moberlys - s/t ep

Beat Temptation - Concerned About Rock Music?

The Bent Backed Tulips (Dramarama) - 7"

Bring Home the Lobsters - tape

Paul Collins Beat - live NYC 1979

Diodes - Survivor  

Doll Congress - s/t ep

The Donner Party: Complete Recordings -  Disks 1 & 2

Drive - covers 7" 

The Figgs - Rejects & singles

Fingers - Video Games ep

For Squirrels - Baypath Rd & demos

Gem - Hexed & I Am a Tree ep 

Glass Eye - Huge ep, Marlo & Christine ep

Gentleman Jesse and His Men - Singles and Rarities

Greg Kihn Band - Next of Kihn

Gunbunnies - Paw Paw Patch

Hummingbirds - LoveBuzz & singles 

Husker Du - Zen Arcade demos/outtakes & Psychepowerpopapunk   

I Can Crawl - Desert

I-Rails - Panharmonium, Nine Songs From Nowhere, Unfocused, Valentino Says, Same Old Me 7", live 1990 

The Iodine Raincoats - I Wonder ep 

The Killing Field - Courage tape

Killjoys - Starry, Gimme Five, Melos Modos, One Night and a Morning After

Lines - Standby ep

Lonesome Strangers - Lonesome Pine  

Math Bats - Bat Day ep

Nashville Ramblers - The Trains 7" (MP3/FLAC)

Native Tongue - s/t ep

New Sweet Breath - singles

Todd Newman - Too Sad for Words & Temporary Setback

The Nines - demo tape 

Nuns of the Great West - The World Ain't Safe ep 

Odolites - Chimes 7" & Persistence of Memory

One Plus Two - Once in a Blue Moon 

Orange Humble Band - Down in Your Dreams ep

Our American Cousins - demo

Poole - two eps

Prodigys - Another Lazy Wednesday

Raves - Past Perfect Tense 

The Records - A Sunny Afternoon in Waterloo & live Dallas 1979

Retriever - Greatest Moments of Doubt & Three Second Stereo ep

Rollerskate Skinny - Trophy & Novice eps

The Seen - Under the Sun/In the Rain/

Shins - Nature Bears a Vacuum ep

Something Blew - s/t ep

Sometime Sweet Susan - Fuse, Point ep & The Coming Lights 

Stag - Kickstart the Ramparts

Swimming Pools Q's - Pow Wow Hour

Trikona Frame - tape 

UV Prom - Field of Vision ep

V. Card - Pool Shark ep & 7" 

Velocity Girl - singles  

Venus in Furs - Real Moral Fibre

Ward 8 (Winter Hours) - tape

Wishes and Water - s/t ep

Wishing Wall - Maybe  

Wolfie - Necessary Sailing tape

V/A - Been There, Done That

V/A - Power pop special: Paul Collins Beat, 20/20, Sinceros live 1979

V/A - Powerpearls Vols. 4 & 5

V/A - Propeller

The Animals at Night - s/t ep (2012) - a brief overview

In past years I've extolled on all things Graig Markel - a Seattle singer/songwriter, distortion pedal configurationist, and the former ringleader of sorely missed aggro punk-popsters New Sweet Breath.  Heck, even as recently as a month ago I offered up his unheralded November/December ep, and earlier in '12 I spilled a few words about his most recent solo album. 

In between those entries I premiered the video for "One Down, One to Go," performed by yet another project of his I neglected to dedicate any coverage to thus far, The Animals at Night.  I could (and perhaps to a certain extent will) take the lazy route, and slap the handy catch-all tag "electronica" on this magnificent nocturnal beast, but as would be their good fortune, the magic lies in the message, not so much the medium.  Then again, that "medium" per se, is often intoxicating amidst these four grooves. 

In any given AaN piece Markel doesn't bludgeon us with the hyper-wonky keyboard blitzkriegs that so many of his contemporaries like to throw down in this day and age, but instead he maneuvers the dimmer switch between medium and soft, rationing out a comfortable allotment of beats and ambiance.  The opener, "Bare Feet and Summer Teeth" is a case-in-point compromise of bump-n-grind playfulness and Markel's soulful persuasion, fleshed out with fiery guitar fills.  "New Juice" opts for a lighter tact, approximating NPR radio's bumper music that some of us secretly relish.  As for the aforementioned "One Down, One to Go," the trio employ a chill keyboard effect that pans in and out like digital sunshowers on a steamy afternoon.  I'm linking the video for you below in case you missed it the first time around.  The Animals at Night ep is available physically via the store on Graig's website and digitally from iTunes, Emusic and Amazon.

Graig Markel - November/December ep (1999)

When Bob Mould disbanded Husker Du in 1988, he both branched out and mellowed out.  About ten years later, another power-trio that was far less renown, namely Seattle's pop-addled noise punks New Sweet Breath packed it in, and their frontman Graig Markel followed that act up with a solo career of his own. We all know that Mould's initial solo endeavors excavated some serious acoustic terrain - with astonishing effectiveness I might.

Under his own name, Markel would mine a similar vein (and hit pay dirt) but before delving into that arena he would shift gears significantly from NSB's tasty power chord melees to something decidedly more... soulful.  Not full blown urban-contemporary mind you, but unmistakably cosmopolitan soundscapes wherein he flirted with higher vocal registers and learned his way around a groove.  His second solo platter, 2000's Hard Grammar was really where he came into his own in this particular realm, however there was a little known preview to that album, this 1999 ep released exclusively via the original MP3.com website.  Filtered through a lo-fi delivery system, the five tracks populating November/December offered a transition of sorts to the more technically proficient full lengths that were just in the offing.  Hear for yourself and indulge in the warm bachelor-pad glow of this swank, yet refreshingly modest set.  Feeling out of the groove?  Graig Markel knows how to massage you right back into it.

While we're on the subject, check out my review of Graig's most recent album here.

01. Collider
02. Squeeze
03. Waiting for June
04. Starlight
05. Stolen and Blue

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Singles Going Single #193 - Bring Back Dad 7" (Science Project, 1994)

In doing my research on Albuquerque's assumably long put to pasture Bring Back Dad, I was reminded that I already covered them, via their contribution to a 7" covers comp called Been There, Done That, minted on the same label that released this wax.  Judging by their originals, Bring Back Dad brought the rawk big time, possessing the crooked, bludgeon-pop assault of contemps Archers of Loaf and New Sweet Breath.  Plump, hernia-inducing power chords and ear bleeding harmonies are full tilt go on "Al Capone," and are all the more ferocious on the aptly titled "Upset."  Regarding Science Project Records, the label also released a split single with Scared of Chaka and Flake Music, the latter of those two bands rechristened themselves as The Shins and enjoyed modest success shortly thereafter. 

A. Al Capone
B. Upset

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Watch: The Aminals At Night "One Down, One to Go"

The Animals at Night are hardly a name brand commodity, but for those of you who frequent these pages you might be familiar with the group's chief architect Graig Markel, who fronted the distorto, indie-punk trio New Sweet Breath, who I've spieled about on a number of occasions.  Not unlike an octopus, Markel is a man of many tentacles, and one of those appendages has unfurled the engaging electro-pop unit that is the subject of this entry.  Below, please check out the video for "One Down, One to Go," which we're premiering today!   Behold it's sheik, neo-cosmopolitan vibe, accompanied by images of unraveling movie reels on an expansive waterfront vista.  Chill.

If you like what you hear, "One Down..." is available on iTunes, Amazon and other digital merchants, with proceeds going to benefit PAWS, a Seattle non-profit that rehabilitates injured and orphaned wildlife, shelters homeless cats and dogs, and educates to make a better world for animals and people. Donations will be made in the name of Henry, a wonderful little dude who came from this shelter years ago, and passed away around the release of this single. 

Graig's 2012 solo release, Graig Markel was written up here.  

Bobby Sutliff - Only Ghosts Remain...plus (1987/2023, Jem) - a brief review.

It's nearly impossible for a recent passing to not overshadow the music of the artist involved. In the cases of high profile specimens like John Lennon and Kurt Cobain it took years for a lot of fans to come to terms with their premature deaths before they could simply sink back in and enjoy the music again. For better or worse, Bobby Sutliff was not a household name, even at the arguable apex of his career in the mid-80s, but fans of both his solo endeavors and the work he did with the more renown Windbreakers certainly felt something when it was announced he lost his battle with cancer in August of 2022. There was really no controversy or prolonged drama tethered to Bobby, and those like myself who didn't know him personally were still able to associate him exclusively with his catalog of music.  Unlike the aforementioned Lennon and Cobain, however, when someone of Bobby's small-of-fame stature departs, their loss tends to exist in a vacuum, one in which there is no media pile-on or ubiquitous airplay on Sirius XM.  But above all else the music lives on with their faithful minions, and a recent reissue of his 1987 solo LP, Only Ghosts Remain is a much needed reminder of his relevance.

Making his bow in the early '80s from the somewhat unlikely locale of Jackson, MS as half of the songwriting quotient of the Windbreakers, Bobby, partnered with Tim Lee, would be responsible for three memorable albums of collegiate guitar pop (Terminal (1985), Run (1986) and A Different Sort (1987), not to mention a handful of preceding EPs. Fortified with national distribution, despite being anchored to smaller indie labels the Windbreakers were something of a staple on left-of-the-dial radio outlets, and were a decent live draw, but they didn't come close to breaching the mainstream.  To fans of jangle-laden indie rock coming remotely from the same environs as R.E.M. (and maybe less so the Dream Syndicate) the Windbreakers were a breath of fresh air.  They were advanced enough to exist in the '80s, yet managed to thoroughly sidestep the most egregious and embarrassing trends of the era. When OGR was released the 'breakers were still a going concern and from what I've been able to glean there was no acrimony between Sutliff and Lee.  That said, it was advisable for Bobby to put the album's eleven songs under a separate umbrella.

Just to get a little bit of trivia out of the way, Only Ghosts..., essentially began life as a Mitch Easter-produced five song EP, the lovingly dubbed Another Jangly Mess, that was only available as a European import which I've seen conflicting release dates of 1986/87.  Another one of Bobby's collaborators, not to mention erstwhile music publicist Howard Wuelfing was so enamored with what he heard that he encouraged PVC/Jem Records to bankroll the recording of another batch of songs, once again with Mitch Easter at his fabled Drive-in Studios to flesh out an entire LP.  Thus, Only Ghosts... was born. Despite being culled from two sessions the album doesn't feel patchworked together in the least, and is as consistent if not more so than anything the Windbreakers had been responsible for up until that point. 

During the era surrounding OGR's recording/release, the Windbreakers was ostensibly Bobby's main meal ticket - yet not one iota of the record sounds half-hearted, or casually strewn together. Retaining much of the 'breakers edgy, forward-thinking pallor while simultaneously emboldening Bobby's overarching sonic heft, this was an album that seemingly had one foot steeped in indie rock aesthetics, with the other sporting an ambitious stride that could have instantly impressed more pedestrian ears. 

The Windbreakers were partial to downcast themes and moreover, were known to exude a pessimistic tenor when it suited them, but as a solo entity Bobby was discernably more assured, and even downright confident. The driving, decided "Same Way Tomorrow" made for a primo opening salvo, declaring something of a brash clarion call. "Always Love You" and "Couldn't Help Myself" mine a similar, if slightly less strenuous vein. Further in, Only Ghosts... reveals itself as more of a mid-tempo specimen, albeit our protagonist is wont to circumvent traditional ballads. The overall effect is comparable to the first couple of Matthew Sweet albums, not to mention the Sweet-adjacent Velvet Crush precursor Choo Choo Train. Intoxicating jangly and strummy notions like "Won't Be Feeling Blue" pour down like an unremitting waterfall, and while the context of any given Bobby Sutliff tune is a cinch to glom onto, there's more than surface level depth at play here.  OGR may not rewrite or out-innovate anything that came before it (by the Windbreakers or otherwise) but it's nonetheless a life affirming example of par-excellence power pop, with an aptitude that's nothing short of wholly earnest. 

As mentioned above, Only Ghosts Remain has been given a new lease on life on the label that originally minted it, Jem Records.  The album's original running order has been bested with eleven additional cuts from three of Bobby's subsequent albums (Bitter Fruit, Perfect Dream and On a Ladder). Amazon has you covered via CD or digitally.