The Possibilities

by Stewart MasonThe Possibilities are probably better known for the company they keep than for their own music, which is a shame since this Athens, GA, band's mix of trippy psychedelia and '70s-style AM pop would appeal to any fan of the Apples In Stereo, Outrageous Cherry, or other post-lo-fi bands with foodstuffs in their names. Although their first album wasn't released until 1999, the Possibilities formed in 1991, originally as a trio of guitarist Kevin Lane, bassist Bob Spires, and drummer Matt Lane; they formally added keyboardist Jason Gonzalez and second guitarist Chris Grehan in early 1999, just after the recording of their first album, The Possibilities, which was released on the local indie Backburner Records later that year. During this same period, the Possibilities were touring and recording with their friend Jack Logan as his backing band; the band recorded the albums Buzz Me In and Monkey Paw with him, as well as contributing to his 1998 collaboration with Bob Kimbell of Weird Summer, Little Private Angel. (Collectively, the Possibilities also backed up Todd McBride on his album Sketchy and contributed quite a bit to the first album by Taylor Joiner's alt-country band Cafeteria, 2000's Knee Deep.)
A song from that first album, the power poppy "You Don't Mean It," was covered by the Minus 5 on their 2001 album Let the War Against Music Begin, and was even chosen as the album's single, performed by Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, and Ken Stringfellow on Late Night With Conan O'Brien that spring. A new Possibilities single, "Invisible," appeared on the tiny Seed and Feed label that year; the song later showed up again as the lead-off track on the Possibilities' second album, Way Out!, which was released by Parasol in July 2002.