Hammerbox was an American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band from

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. The band formed around 1990 and disbanded in 1994 when lead singer Carrie Akre left the band to form Goodness.

History

Hammerbox formed around 1990 in Seattle and released their first LP, '' Hammerbox'' on independent label C/Z Records. This album earned them the opportunity to sign to a major label
A&M Records
with whom they released their second album. However, despite the band's appearance at rock festival Endfest in

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city ...

to support their album, it did not sell well and the band was dropped by the label. James Atkins left the band in early 1994, and the rest of the members followed suit shortly thereafter. Carrie Akre formed Goodness, while Harris Thurmond went on to form Anodyne (later renamed to Marfa Lights) with That Petrol Emotion singer Steve Mack. Thurmond formed Orbiter in 2000, and later Kingsley in 2003. '' Live EMP Skychurch, Seattle, WA'', an album containing live material from the band's reunion show, was released in 2005. Bassist James Atkins died in 2016 from

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include dysphagia, difficulty in swallowing and weigh ...

. He was 49.

Members

* Carrie Akre – vocals *Harris Thurmond – guitar *James Atkins (died 2016) – bass *Dave Birenbaum – drums & additional vocals

Discography

*"Kept House" / "After All" – 7-inch (1990) *" New Rose", The Damned cover on ''Another Damned Seattle Compilation'', Dashboard Hula Girl Records (1991) * ''Hammerbox'' (1991) * ''Numb'' (1993) *'' Live EMP Skychurch, Seattle, WA'' (2005) The songs "Trip" and "Simple Passing" from the album ''Numb'' are featured in the soundtrack of the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

'' Road Rash'', by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

, in its 32-bit versions ( 3DO,

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

, and Windows 9X).

References

External links

* C/Z Records artists Rock music groups from Washington (state) American grunge groups Musical groups from Seattle Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 {{US-alternative-rock-band-stub