by Denise Sullivan
Guitarist Jim Putnam (Medicine, Maids of Gravity), bassist Senon Williams and drummer Steve Goodfriend debuted with a self-titled EP (Fingerpaint Records) and quickly garnered themselves a following in the U.K. By 1996, they were signed to Restless and the resulting self-titled album combined sonic guitarscapes and smoky melodies, earning the band a slowcore/sadcore tag, and aligning them with peers Acetone and Low, while evoking memories of Neil Young, Brian Wilson and Pink Floyd. Singing Hatchet followed in 1999. Three years went by before their sun-drenched follow-up was released, but And the Surrounding Mountains was a Crazy Horse-meets-Pink Floyd record that brightened the Merge Records release schedule in the spring of 2002. The Fallen Leaf Pages appeared in 2005.