Chocolate USA was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from

Tampa Bay, Florida Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...

, formed in 1989 as Miss America. The band featured

Julian Koster Julian Koster (born July 26, 1972) is an American multidisciplinary artist. As a musician, he is a member of the Elephant 6 Collective, the leader of The Music Tapes, and a member of Neutral Milk Hotel. He is known for writing, directing, and a ...

who went on to form

The Music Tapes The Music Tapes is an experimental pop music and performance art project of Elephant 6 member Julian Koster (also of Neutral Milk Hotel). The Music Tapes is characterized by unusual orchestrations (such as singing saw and bowed banjo), the u ...

and join

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed by Jeff Mangum in Ruston, Louisiana, in 1989. They were active until 1998, and then from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock and psy ...

History

The band formed as Miss America in 1989 with Koster as singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter, Liza Wakeman (violin) and Keith Block (drums). Soon joined by a succession of bassists, they released debut album ''All Jets Are Gonna Fall Today'' themselves in 1992 with input and performances from engineer George Harris as well as a long list of guests. It was reissued later in 1992 by

Bar/None Records Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Early history Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Having previously worked in pirate radio, booking and promoting bands in his n ...

. The

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

band released a second album under Bar/None entitled ''Smoke Machine'' in 1994, this time with core members Koster, Wakeman, and Block joined by Paul Wells, Alan Edwards, Bill Doss, Eric Harris, and Jesse Rogers, before disbanding for other, ultimately more successful, projects. Their sound can be described as quirky, and containing many different sorts of instrumentation, which is a trait that went with Koster into

and

; present in their releases are Guitars, Bass Guitars, Standup Basses, Accordions, Concertinas, Rattles, drums, robot sound effects pecifically on ''Smoke Machine'' organs, toy pianos, banjos, and numerous other instruments. Member Bill Doss was announced dead on July 31, 2012, with the cause of death being a brain hemmorage.Best Fit News: ''Bill Doss of The Olivia Tremor Control reported dead''
The Line Of Best Fit, July 31, 2012

Releases

* ''

All Jets Are Gonna Fall Today ''All Jets Are Gonna Fall Today'' is the debut full-length album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, ...

'' (1992), Bar/None –

Cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...

/ CD * ''

Smoke Machine A fog machine, fog generator, or smoke machine is a device that emits a dense vapor that appears similar to fog or smoke. This artificial fog is most commonly used in professional entertainment applications, but smaller, more affordable fog mach ...

'' (1994), Bar/None – CD/cassette

References

External links

Chocolate USA's Bar/None Profile
{{Authority control Elephant 6 artists Indie rock musical groups from Florida Bar/None Records artists