The Halo Benders was a band formed in 1994 as a side project by Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening and Doug Martsch of Built to Spill. They released their first album, God Don't Make No Junk, in 1994. They followed up in 1996 with Don't Tell Me Now and in 1998 with The Rebels Not In.
All three of the band's albums were released on Johnson's Olympia record label, K Records.
Following a hiatus through the early 2000s, the Halo Benders reformed in March 2007 for a pair of shows at the Visual Arts Collective in Boise, Idaho. The band featured Doug Martsch, Ralf Youtz, Calvin Johnson, Bret Netson, and Stephen Gere. November 2010, a reformed version with both Doug and Calvin appeared for a benefit for Friends of Mia, related to Mia Zapata the late singer for The Gits at the Capitol Theater in Olympia,WA.
Music
The Halo Benders' music is characterised by untraditional sounds, movements, and song structures. The vocals of the baritone Johnson and the higher-pitched Martsch have been described as highly contrasting - "each seems to inhabit a completely different song."[1] Johnson has said that the two write lyrics for songs largely independently.
Band members
- Doug Martsch - guitar, vocals, bass, keyboards, percussion
- Ralf Youtz - drums, guitar
- Calvin Johnson - vocals, guitar, samples
- Wayne Flower - bass, drums
- Steve Fisk - keyboards
- Heather Dunn - guitars on The Rebels Not In
Discography
Studio albums
- God Don't Make No Junk (1994, K Records)
- Don't Tell Me Now (1996, K Records)
- The Rebels Not In (1998, K Records)
Singles& EPs
- Canned Oxygen 7" (1994, Atlas Records)
- Don't Touch My Bikini (1995, Fire Records)
References
- ^ "188. Halo Benders "Virginia Reel Around the Fountain" [K; 1998]". The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s. Pitchfork.com. August 30, 2010.