Brando

by Matt FinkFormed in 1991 in Bloomington, IN, around the trio of vocalist/guitaristDerek Richey, guitarist Nathan Bryant, drummer Dan Solero, and a revolving cadre of bassists, Brando would go on to become one of the more prolific bands to emerge out of their basements with a series of increasingly accomplished four-track recordings. Having ingested all of the expected seminal influences like the Pixies, Pavement, Slint, and Sebadoh, the band set out to follow their own unique vision of lo-fi indie rock.
Although they went through an admittedly inconsistent period of live performances and recording, improving greatly with the addition of guitarist/bassist Josh Seib and Richey's increasing familiarity with four-track technology, marriages and jobs would cause the original core of the band to disperse and cease to exist as a live act in 1997. Still, the members would continue to sporadically record together and release homemade cassettes, with some 200 songs being whittled down to 14 for 2000's The Adder. Beginning to clear away some of the lo-fi fuzz of their earlier albums, Peacocks on Linen, also released in 2000, would signal the band's arrival in the world of hi-fi recording. With 2001's The Headless Horseman is a Preacher, the band would finally begin to receive some underground radio play, and a newly fashioned touring band would form with Richey as the central hub. In 2002, Single Crown Postcard signaled the band's jump to a larger indie label and found Richey working with an ever-increasing number of collaborators in filling out his indie pop vision.