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 Carrie Akre (born September 24, 1966) is an American singer best known for her work with Seattle underground bands Hammerbox and Goodness. Since Goodness disbanded in 1998, she has contributed vocals to the project band The Rockfords (which i ...

left the band to form Goodness.

History

Hammerbox formed around 1990 in Seattle and released their first LP, ''

Hammerbox Hammerbox was an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington. 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 r ...

'' on independent label

C/Z Records C/Z Records was a Seattle-based punk rock record label established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale. It started with the release of '' Deep Six'', which collected early recordings of what later came to be known as grunge. After ' ...

. 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 Endfest was an annual summer music festival hosted by KNDD, also known as 107.7 The End, an alternative rock radio station based in Seattle, Washington. It featured such bands as Mudhoney, Beastie Boys, Interpol, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wolfmother ...

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 That Petrol Emotion was a London-based rock band formed in 1984 by musicians from Northern Ireland with an American vocalist. They recorded five albums between 1986 and 1994, exploring an eclectic fusion of indie rock, post-punk, garage rock and ...

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

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

Discography

*"Kept House" / "After All" – 7-inch (1990) *"

New Rose "New Rose" is the first single by British punk rock band the Damned. It was released on 22 October 1976 on Stiff Records, and in 1977 in the Netherlands, Germany and France. It is notable as the first ever single released by a British punk band ...

", The Damned cover on ''Another Damned Seattle Compilation'',

Dashboard Hula Girl Records A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...

(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 Road rash is a colloquial term for skin injury caused by abrasion with road surfaces, often as a consequence of cycling and motorcycling accidents. It may also result from running, inline skating, roller skating, skateboarding, and longboardin ...

'', 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 3DO is a video gaming hardware format developed by The 3DO Company and conceived by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins. The specifications were originally designed by Dave Needle and RJ Mical of New Technology Group, and were licensed by third ...

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