Springhouse

The story of New York's Springhouse treads the all-too-familiar waters of the critically acclaimed band that's never able to get the commercial attention it justly deserves. Formed in 1988 by Mitch Friedland (guitars and vocals), Larry Heinemann (bass, guitars, chapman stick, and backing vocals), and Big Takeover publisher Jack Rabid (drums and vocals), the dream pop outfit's tales of romantic and environmental survival are snow-capped with lush textures of guitar that sound nothing like you've ever heard. From the beginning, Springhouse developed an Anglophilic yet highly distinct sound that found a rhythmic foundation through the likes of Buzzcocks and the Sound. Friedland's nylon-stringed guitar, run through myriad effects, gave the band a layered sound similar to the shoegaze scene of the early '90s. Their two LPs for Caroline - 1991's storming Land Falls and 1993's less aggressive Postcards From the Arctic -- are equally demanding of emotional immersion; sometimes gloomy, but always purifying and frequently uplifting. Shortly after the band's second LP was released, the band decided to call it quits, only to re-form briefly to open for heroes Mark Burgess and the Sons of God on their brief 1994 U.S. tour. Four years later, the trio began work on a third LP. ~ Andy Kellman