Castor…
While fans of Hum and Shiner are probably already very familiar with the band Castor, I figured it still wouldn’t hurt throwing up some of their songs on the blog. That, and I wanted to make mention of them anyway because they were pretty much brilliant and fairly overlooked unless you’re already a fan of the aforementioned bands or some of their peers.
Castor consisted of members Jeff Garber, Derek Niedringhaus, Ben Eversmann, and Jason Vance. They are often noted for having a very melodically “fluid” sound, which I imagine is about the best way to describe it. Their first album, which was Self-Titled, was released in 1995 on Mud Records. While probably not as accomplished and/or large sounding as their follow up, the bands knack for odd time changes and melodicism are still on full display. It wasn’t really until their second album Tracking Sounds Alone in 1998 that showed the band at their largest, fullest sound. Sadly the band had already disbanded by the time of the albums release.
Produced by Shiner member Paul Malinowski, Tracking Sounds Alone is just as spacious as it is gorgeous. Most likely it’s with this album where all the comparisons to Hum and etc. come from, but Castor is easily able to stand alone among this group with a sound that just drifts along while still providing a solid punch to it. Well worth checking out for those that just enjoy some good old fashion mid nineties alternative rock.
Castor:
Castor – Ceremal Frame [MP3]
Castor – Dust Gun [MP3]
Tracking Sounds Alone:
Castor – Trackstar [MP3]
Castor – Above Water [MP3]
After the bands breakup, Jeff Garber and Derek Niedringhaus later teamed up to work in National Skyline. Garber also eventually found himself in the Ken Andrews fronted Year of the Rabbit. Niedringhaus would later find himself in Centaur with former Hum vocalist/guitarist Matt Talbott. While both albums are sadly out of print these days and kind of hard to come by, they are still available for sale on digital sites like iTunes and emusic. You can also still purchase the bands one and only single over at Parasol Records.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
