It took a hell of a long time (try the better part of two decades), but I eventually came under the spell of Sardina's lone 1995 album, Presents. Sardina were a co-ed Indianapolis quartet led by down-to-earth chanteuse Michelle Marchesseault whose golden pipes meshed splendidly with the band's slyly surreal sonic penchant. While Sardina were an acquired taste, Michelle's previous band, The Gerunds (likewise originating from Indy) were comparatively more immediate, albeit less ornate. By the time they cut the Our Son cassette in 1991 (recorded by the Paul Mahern of the Zero Boys/Datura Seeds) they had relocated to Bloomington, IN.
After some lineup changes in 1992, the Gerunds lineup would soon transition to Sardina. There's not any info to be had on The Gerunds outside of the Indiana Musical Family Tree archive site. Our Son bears a discernible folk-pop sway, but otherwise the band loosely resembles The Spinanes and Velocity Girl - particularly the latter in regards to Marchesseault's vocal aptitude on these eight tracks. I snatched these tracks from the aforementioned MFT site several years ago before the files disappeared. In a nutshell, the Gerunds weren't quite as rewarding as Sardina, but Our Son's humble moxie is still worth examining.
01. Avalanche
02. Spaceman
03. Mother Lost
04. untitled
05. Kay's House
06. X
07. Flying With You
08. Dragon Song
Hear
1 comment:
I agree Michelle was and is an incredible singer, Kent Jolly, the Gerunds’ lead guitarist is also remarkable, he’s went on to write mostly instrumental music including a project with Brian Eno.
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