Over a series of tuneless vocals and duets, Jessamine's debut album presents some of the most intriguing noise-pop since My Bloody Valentine and Medicine were in their heyday. From the textural noise of the opener, it might be assumed that the group pursues distortion for its own sake, though later vocal tracks "Secret," "Royal Jelly Eye Cream" and "Inevitably" each include delicious pieces of guitar distortion that accents the fragile melodies exceptionally well. Slipping between abstract noise akin to label-mates Labradford and bass-driven pop songs may not be for everyone, but Jessamine does it better than most. ~ Keith Farley, All Music Guide
George Horn (Mastering), Jessamine (Main Performer), Michael Dahlquist (Drums), Jason Jones (Drums), Dawn Smithson (Bass), Dawn Smithson (Vocals), Dawn Smithson (Paintings), Stephen Walter (Design), Rex Ritter (Guitar), Rex Ritter (Vocals), Rex Ritter (Pedals), Rex Ritter (Fuzz-wah), Susan Robb (Photography), Andy Brown (Organ), Andy Brown (Piano (Electric)), Andy Brown (Engineer), Andy Brown (Farfisa Organ), Andy Brown (Oscillator), Andy Brown (Fender Rhodes), Andy Brown (Wah Wah Guitar), Andy Brown (Tremolo), Andy Brown (Micro Moog), Bootsy Holler (Photography), Michael Faeth (Drums)
Representative Albums: "Jessamine," "Long Arm of Coincidence," "Don't Stay Too Long"
Biography
Drone-rockers Jessamine formed in the college town of Galion, Ohio before relocating to Seattle, where they earned notice for "Your Head Is So Small..., " a 1994 single on the Sub Pop label. After signing to Kranky, Jessamine -- vocalist/guitarist Rex Ritter, bassist/vocalist Dawn Smithson, keyboardist Andy Brown and drummer Michael Faeth -- issued their self-titled debut in 1995; their follow-up, The Long Arm of Coincidence, was released a year later. A Pox on You, a collaboration with Spectrum, followed, as did the singles collection Another Fictionalized History; their third studio LP, Don't Stay Too Long, appeared in 1998. Just after the release of Living Sound, an archival live outing recorded with Experimental Audio Research ringleader Sonic Boom, Jessamine disbanded. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Jessamine was a band that recorded three albums for Kranky records between 1994 and 1998 and a number of singles for other record labels. These singles were later collected by the band on a self-released compilation album.
The band split in 1998, and Ritter and Brown recorded together as Fontanelle for a couple more years.
