Barkmarket was a

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

group formed in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1987. Personnel were singer/guitarist and main songwriter

Dave Sardy David Stuart Sardy (born 1967), more commonly known as D. Sardy, is an American composer, musician, songwriter, and multiple Grammy winning record producer. He came to prominence as the leader of 1990s noise rock band Barkmarket before turning ...

, bass guitarist John Nowlin and drummer Rock Savage. Barkmarket's music was usually loud and aggressive, touching on many styles (most prominently including heavy metal,

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

and

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

), but not resting definitively in any one genre.

History

In 1986, they released an independently recorded demo tape called BARKMARKET, then in 1987 recorded ''1-800-GODHOUSE'' on cassette 4tk. They were signed to Purge/Soundleague in NYC. After recording the second album ''Easy Listening'' the band moved to

Triple X Records Triple X Records was a Los Angeles-based record company started by three former employees of the bankrupt Greenworld Distribution: Dean Naleway, Peter Heur and Charley Brown. The label was known for "a fearlessly eclectic catalogue that broke awa ...

, who released the group's third album, ''Vegas Throat''; the latter featured guest work from avant-jazz guitarist

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, Rock music, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notab ...

. ''

Vegas Throat ''Vegas Throat'' is the debut studio album by the American noise rock band Barkmarket. It was released in 1991 by Triple X Records. It was reissued in 1992 on Rick Rubin's Def American label with an alternate track listing and the song " Ten Conv ...

'' attracted the interest of

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

, and Barkmarket was one of the first groups signed to Rubin's American Recordings. ''Vegas Throat'' was reissued by American, which then issued ''

Gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand out ...

'' and the ''Lardroom'' EP. During this time, they released the ''Peacekeeper'' EP on the Man's Ruin record label. '' L. Ron'' (1996) was Barkmarket's final album. Sardy's engineering/production work was taking precedence over his own band, and the group quietly broke up in 1997. Sardy has since become an in-demand producer and mixer for many heavy rock groups (e.g., System of a Down,

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

Wolfmother Wolfmother is an Australian hard rock band from Sydney. Formed in 2004, the group is centred around vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, who is the only constant member of the line-up. The band has been through many personnel changes since t ...

Helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protecti ...

Quicksand Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...

) or even pop heavyweights like

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment The Thrills The Thrills are an Irish rock band originally formed in Dublin in 2001. The band was founded by lead vocalist Conor Deasy and guitarist Daniel Ryan, guitarist and bass player Padraic McMahon, pianist Kevin Horan and drummer Ben Carrigan. Their b ...

. Sardy has been quoted as saying he made a promise to himself that each of their albums would be a progression in the muli-track recording technology used, from 4 track on ''1-800-GOD-HOUSE'', to 8 track (''Easy Listening''), to 16 track (''Vegas Throat''), and then 24 track (''Gimmick'') with a promise to go back to 4 track for the final album. The beginning of "Visible Cow" on the album ''L Ron'' was an attempt to keep that promise. Sardy was picked as one of the top ten up and coming film composers of 2010 for his work scoring the movies 21, and Zombieland by Composers Monthly.

Musical style

Critic Stewart Mason wrote that the band "can at times be frustratingly difficult to pin down, but their best work has a noisy, rattling power." There were also odd touches that demonstrated an experimental edge: the eerie

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

and

tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among ...

s on "(Radio Static)" (from ''Gimmick''), and the nearly

delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

acoustic slide guitar on "Visible Cow" (from ''L. Ron''). Sardy's ragged, proto-

screamo Screamo (also referred to as skramz) is a subgenre of emo that emerged in the early 1990s and emphasizes "willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics".Jason Heller, "Feast of Reason". ''Denver Westword'', June 20, 2002 Access date: June 15, 2 ...

vocals usually offered bizarre lyrics that were at once evocative and absurd, and rarely without a menacing undercurrent: "I bought a handgun made out of glass/I cut a hole in the side of a wild ass" ("Visible Cow"); critic Ted Alvarez wrote, "Sardy's distended

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

often has a dark humor about it; lines like "I opened all your mail" ("Feed Me") and "I got a game/it won't take long/we'll list all our beatings in a cursory

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

" ("How are You") add a dash of

laughter Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, usually audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laug ...

to the often humorless scowl across the face of hardcore music."

Discography

Studio albums

* '' 1-800-GODHOUSE'' (1988) * ''

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

'' (1989) * ''

'' (1992) * ''

'' (1993) * '' L Ron'' (1996)

EPs

* ''

Lardroom ''Lardroom'' is an EP by the American noise rock band Barkmarket, released on August 8, 1994 by American Recordings. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''Lardroom'' liner notes. ;Barkmarket *John Nowlin – bass guitar *Dave ...

'' (1994) * ''

Peacekeeper Peacekeeper may refer to: General * A person involved in peacekeeping ** United Nations peacekeeping * Peace officer * Conservator of the peace Military * The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, a land-based nuclear ICBM ** Peacekeeper Rail Garrison, a mob ...

'' (1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barkmarket American noise rock music groups Musical groups from New York City Musical groups established in 1987 Musical groups disestablished in 1997 Man's Ruin Records artists Triple X Records artists American Recordings (record label) artists