A Frames were an American

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...

band formed in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in 1999. The trio consisted of Erin Sullivan, Min Yee and Lars Finberg. Finberg left the band in 2006 to focus on his other project, The Intelligence, and was replaced by Tommy Northcutt who remained with the band thereafter. The band was called Bend Sinister from 1996 to 1999. A Frames cites

Cows Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

Scientists A scientist is a person who researches to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophical study of nature ...

, Stick Men With Ray Guns,

Scratch Acid Scratch Acid was an American post-hardcore/noise rock band from Austin, Texas, formed in 1982. One of the pioneers of noise rock in the 1980s, the band is best remembered as a stepping stone for its frontman David Yow, and bass player David ...

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

, and 60's garage rock among its influences. A Frames started its own label, Dragnet Records, in January 2000 in order to release their music, and later the band signed with

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

Records in 2004 for the release of ''Black Forest''.

Band members

*Erin Sullivan:

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

*Min Yee:

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

*Lars Finberg:

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(1999 - 2006) *Thomas Northcut: drums (2006 - 2010)

Musical style

A Frames sing about

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

and apocalyptic cultural shifts, although many of the lyrics and themes are meant to be humorous. The band's style has also been described as experimental noise as the vocals are dark, monotone and bleak while the sound is aggressive. The drum beat is often mechanical and pounding, producing a raw,

minimalistic Minimalism is a movement in visual arts, music, and other media that began in post–World War II Western art. Minimalism may also refer to: *Minimalism (computing), a philosophy of programming and configuring computers *Minimalism (philosophy), ...

sound. The sloppy, chaotic and sharp

chords Chord or chords may refer to: Art and music * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord, a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * The Chords (British band), 1970s British mod ...

, however, are kept in line by the ever-steady rhythm.

Discography

Singles

* "Neutron Bomb/Radiation Generation/Test Tube Baby" 7" (2000, Dragnet Records) * "Plastica/Hospital" 7" (2001) (S-S Records) * "Crutches/Membrane/Weissensee (

Neu! Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plank, w ...

)" 7" (2003, Royal Records) * "Complications/Frankenstein" 7" (2004, S-S Records) * "Police 1000/Traction" 7" (2006, S-S Records)

Albums

* ''A-Frames'' LP/CD (2002, S-S Records, Dragnet, re-issued on Born Bad Records, France in 2007) * ''2'' LP/CD (2003, S-S Records, re-issued on Born Bad Records, France in 2007) * ''Black Forest'' LP/CD (2005, Sub Pop Records)

Compilations appearances

*"Bumble Bee" on ''Babyhead'' LP, (S-S Records, 2004) *"X.M.A.S." on ''Surprise Package'' CD (Flying Bomb Records) *"I Wanna Hurt" on ''The Necessary Effect'' CD (Xeroid Records)

References

External links

S-S Records WebsiteS-S Records MySpace
{{Authority control American post-punk music groups American noise rock music groups Sub Pop artists Musical groups from Washington (state) Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 1999 establishments in Washington (state) 2010 disestablishments in Washington (state)