Band of Susans

Band of Susans was a noise rock band formed in New York City in 1986. It originally consisted of Robert Poss (guitar/vocals), Susan Stenger (bass/vocals), Ron Spitzer (drums), with Susan Lyall (guitar), Susan Tallman (guitar), and Alva Rogers (vocals). However, the band would undergo several permutations over the years, usually involving guitarists. Poss, Stenger, and Spitzer were the band's core members throughout its duration.

History

In the early to mid 1980s, Poss studied under the tutelage of avant-garde guitar ensemble composer Rhys Chatham, and played in the bands Tot Rocket and Western Eyes. Taking their name from the number of Susans then in the lineup, Band of Susans released the 12" EP Blessing And Curse on Poss's own Trace Elements label. A record-release party (also said to be the band's first-ever live gig) was held at NYC's The Love Club on January 31, 1987; BoS were the opening act for a band called Das Furlines. They were soon signed to the avant-garde Blast First imprint of U.K. record label Mute Records.

After the release of debut album Hope Against Hope, Rogers, Lyall and Tallman quit, and were replaced by Karen Haglof (guitar) and Page Hamilton (guitar). This lineup recorded the album Love Agenda and a Peel Sessions EP, which featured a cover of Gang Of Four's "I Found That Essence Rare." The two new guitarists then quit, with Hamilton quickly forming the more metal-influenced Helmet. Anne Husick (guitar) and Mark Lonergan (guitar) then joined BoS, yielding the band's "classic lineup" which made three more albums and one EP, all on Restless Records.

Sonic characteristics

As their history of having eight guitarists in all (and never less than three at any given time) attests, Band of Susans were a heavily guitar-centric outfit. They are generally included in New York City's abrasive post-No Wave scene which produced Sonic Youth, Glenn Branca, Live Skull, and Swans. They generally used G&L brand guitars (which appear on several of the band's album covers), Fender Jazzmasters, and Park (a budget brand made by Marshall) amplifiers. G&L owner Leo Fender was an avowed fan of the band and later befriended Poss. Musically, BoS organised their three guitarists into providing an overwhelming wall of feedback and guitar noise layered atop more conventional song structures. Due to their love of atmospheric textures, the band is often considered a peripheral member of the shoegaze movement, though they had a more abrasive sound closer to that of their New York contemporaries than most of the primarily-British bands of the shoegaze genre. Like shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Band of Susans were notorious for playing live at extremely high volumes in order to recreate the visceral impact of their studio albums. Despite BoS's experimental leanings, Poss was a big fan of The Rolling Stones, which was later manifest in covers of the Stones' songs "Child Of The Moon" and "Paint It Black."

Live performances

Band of Susans toured the U.S. and Europe sporadically. They are known to have played with bands such as Live Skull, Butthole Surfers, Wire, Rollins Band, Smegma, Das Furlines, and Lovely[2]. During the band's final U.S. and European tours, Jay Braun (who formed the Negatones shortly thereafter) filled in for Lonergan and Kelly Burns filled in for Ron Spitzer. Band of Susans also performed, with Rhys Chatham as a warmup "group," at The Kitchen on 19th Street, in the early '80s (perhaps 1981-82) as part of a "performance art" piece. A year or so afterward, they performed at CBGB, although not with the original lineup, with the exception of Susan Stenger, Robert Poss, and possibly Karen Hagloff.

Post-breakup

After the dissolution of the band in late 1996, Poss and Stenger performed with Bruce Gilbert of Wire as gilbertpossstenger; one album was released under this moniker. Poss then concentrated on production and solo work, whilst Stenger played live with The Creatures for a period. An open-ended promise to reform under a new name has yet to materialize. Poss released a pair of solo albums in 2002.

Music videos

Music videos were released for:

• "The Pursuit Of Happiness" (1989)
• "Now Is Now" (1991)
• "Blind" (1993)
• "The Last Temptation Of Susan" (1993) (experimental video collage by Leah Singer, wife of Lee Ranaldo)

Trivia

• A promo poster for Love Agenda hangs by the door of the record store owner's office in the 1995 movie Empire Records; it appears in several scenes throughout the film.
• Lonergan worked doing transcriptions of guitar tablature for the Mel Bay publishing company.
• Stenger's bass amplifier caught on fire while the band was recording Veil in the studio in 1992 or 1993. A color photo of this destroyed amp appears in the booklet of Veil; a purple-ized version was used as cover art for the "Mood Swing" single.
• The CD version of Veil features a hidden track at the end, a "radio remix" version of that album's "The Red And The Black." (Not a cover of the song of the same name by Blue Öyster Cult.)
• BoS appeared on Surprise Your Pig - A Tribute To R.E.M. in 1992, covering R.E.M.'s "1,000,000." The band's final production was a version of Wire's "Ahead" for a 1996 album of Wire cover versions titled Whore.
• Alternative rock band Combine named one of their songs "Robert Poss (American Guitar Hero)"[3].
• Band leader Robert Poss is a Rambler (automobile) fan with a particular interest in Marlins. An American Motors (AMC) factory publicity photograph of the 1965 model is the cover art for the Here Comes Success album and the car's hood ornament is the art on the CD itself.

Discography

Albums

• Hope Against Hope (Blast First, 1988)
• Love Agenda (Blast First/ Restless, 1989)
• The Word and the Flesh (Restless, 1991)
• Veil (Restless/ Enigma, 1993)
• Here Comes Success (Restless/ Blast First/ World Service, 1995)

EPs, Singles

• Blessing and Curse 12" (Trace Elements, 1987)
• Hard Light 12" (Blast First) U.K.; promo-only
• The Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit/ Dutch East India, 1992)
• Now (Restless/ Enigma, 1992)
• "Mood Swing" b/w "The Last Temptation Of Susan (edit)" 7" single (1993) (on maroon vinyl)

Compilation

• Wired For Sound (Double CD spanning 1986 to 1993; one disc has only songs with vocals, the other has only instrumental songs) (Blast First, 1995)

Robert Poss

• Sometimes (cassette) (Trace Elements, 1986)
• Inverse Guitar (w/ Nicholas Collins) (cassette) (Trace Elements, 1988)
• Crossing Casco Bay (Trace Elements, 2002)
• Distortion Is Truth (Trace Elements, 2002)

gilbertpossstenger

• manchesterlondon (WMO, 2000)

External links

• The official unofficial Band of Susans page
• Official Band Of Susans Myspace site
• Official Robert Poss Myspace site
• Trace Elements Records back catalog mail order site
• Susan Stenger link
• Analysis of song "Elisabeth Stride (1843 - 1888)" from Here Comes Success, with sound clips
• Watch Band of Susans' four music videos
• Trouser Press entry
• Some BoS concert flyers