Cream Abdul Babar is one of the longest-standing bands in the

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

scene. The band formed in 1994, combining elements of

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

, industrial, and

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

to create their brand of

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 ...

. The band's name is a play on

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ( ; born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. , April 16, 1947) is an American former basketball player. He played professionally for 20 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Associatio ...

History

The band's original 5-piece lineup was ingerIan Powell, Tradd Sanderson and Dan Rozenblum playing

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, David Sanderson on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and Jason Caldwell on

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 ...

. In 1995 they released their first EP titled ''Chlamydia Lunch''. Shortly following their first release and tour,

trombonist The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the air column inside the instrument to ...

Mike Hagerty joined the band and appeared on the 1996 ''Cream Abdul Babar/I Guard the Sheep'' 7-inch split. In 1997, Cream Abdul Babar entered the studio with Tallahassee-based recording engineer, Tommy Hamilton, and exited with their first full-length record, "The Backwater of Masculine Ethics." The band toured the entire US several times on this release, including 10–15 shows in Atlanta, GA alone. In 1998, the band re-entered the studio, again with Tommy Hamilton, and also with new-found member Derek Mitchka on keyboards. The result was the "Buried in Broken Glass" EP. The band hit the road again, establishing themselves a dedicated following in Baltimore, Savannah and San Francisco, the entire state of Florida, and their already-solidified fan base in Atlanta. The next several years involved writing and various U.S. tours, including tours with

Mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...

, Dragbody, Meatjack, Damad, & Hawg Jaw. In 2002, CAB released their second full-length entitled "Catalyst To Ruins," which was released on Baltimore-based label At A Loss Recordings. In 2003, Cream Abdul Babar released 2 split CDs, both recorded and engineered by Billy Anderson. The first, again released on At A Loss Recordings, was a split full-length LP & CD with

Kylesa Kylesa is an American sludge metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, Down-tuned guitar, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock. The group was established in 2001 by ...

. The second was with

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 ...

-based art/noise/metal band Teen Cthulhu. This was released on Hyperrealist Records, based out of Savannah, GA. At this time, the band added their eighth member, Will Galloti, as second guitarist, moving Tradd Sanderson exclusively to noise / soundscapes. In 2004, the Public Guilt label, also based out of Baltimore, released a double-disc remastered re-issue of all of Cream Abdul Babar's older self-released material and out of print splits, 7-inch releases, remixes and live material. This compilation is entitled "Excavation 1995-1998. It includes "Backwater of Masculine Ethics," "Buried in Broken Glass," the I Guard The Sheep split 7-inch, and a slew of other material, all remastered. Cream Abdul Babar continue to be an influential band in the avant-metal scene, and are known to play live on occasion. The band played a reunion show in Tallahassee, Florida, on April 8, 2017, nearly 10 years after their previous show.

Members

*Jason Caldwell - Drums *Danny Rozenblum - Guitar *Ian Powell - Vocals *Tradd Sanderson - Guitar, Noise *David Sanderson - Bass *Michael Hagerty - Trombone *Derek Mitchka - Keyboard *Will Galotti - Guitar

Discography

Full-length albums

*''The Backwater of Masculine Ethics'' (1997) *''The Catalyst to Ruins'' (2002)

EPs

*''Chlamydia Lunch'' (1994) *''Buried in Broken Glass'' (1998) *''Covering the Track Marks'' (2006)

Splits

*Cream Abdul Babar / I Guard the Sheep (1996) *Cream Abdul Babar /

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- ''The Space'' (2002) *Cream Abdul Babar /

(2003) *Cream Abdul Babar / Teen Cthulhu (2003)

Compilations

*''The Nervous System - AAJ Records Compilation'' (1998) *''Empower: Exercising the Human Spirit'' *''Excavation: 1995 - 1998'' (2004)

Footnotes

References

* DaRonco, Mike
"Cream Abdul Babar"
''MUSICMATCH Guide''. Accessed August 18, 2007. * DeRevere, Paul
"Cream Abdul Babar"
''Tallahassee Democrat'', August 19, 2007. Accessed August 19, 2007.

External links

Official Website
*

Record labels

At A Loss Recordings

Public Guilt
*
CREAM ABDUL BABAR - Excavation: 1995-1998

Hyperrealist Records

UndeRadar
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1994 Punk rock groups from Florida Musical groups from Tallahassee, Florida Heavy metal musical groups from Florida 1994 establishments in Florida