Red Sparowes is an American, Los Angeles-based

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

band, comprising current and former members of

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

Marriages Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

, The Nocturnes, Halifax Pier, Angel Hair and Pleasure Forever. Their sound is characteristic of

soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term, originally coined by Michael Southworth, was popularized by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ...

-influenced

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 ...

, with an otherwise uncommon extensive use of a

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

History

Red Sparowes formed in 2003 as a side project for its members. They signed to

Neurot Recordings Neurot Recordings is an American independent record label founded by members of avant-garde metal band Neurosis in 1999. Gradually expanding, it has showcased a variety of artists including a number of sludge metal, post-rock, and noise bands. ...

Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

's record label. They recorded some demos for their debut album, and this led to tours with

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of Consonance and ...

and

Made Out of Babies Made Out of Babies was a sludge metal band from Brooklyn, New York formed in 2004 that disbanded in 2012. Biography Drawing equally from noise rock bands such as The Jesus Lizard and post-metal bands such as Isis, the band developed a followin ...

in 2004. The debut was recorded in May 2004 by engineer Desmond Shea, with the resulting sound in the vein of guitarists

Bryant Clifford Meyer Bryant Clifford Meyer (sometimes credited as Clifford Meyer, BC Meyer, Cliff Meyer or Bryant C Meyer) is a keyboardist, guitarist and vocalist, best known for his tenure with Los Angeles, California-based post-metal band Isis. He was with the ban ...

and

Jeff Caxide Jeff Caxide is an American bassist, best known for his time with post-metal band Isis, of which he was a founding member and present until its dissolution in 2010. He was also a founding member of Red Sparowes, but left after the release of the ...

's band

, Chicago

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 ...

outfit

Pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

, as well as bands as varied as

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

and

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

. Members

and Dana Berkowitz relocated in late 2004, thus forcing them out of the band. They were replaced by Andy Arahood on guitar and bass, and David Clifford on drums. Red Sparowes' first studio album, '' At the Soundless Dawn'', was released in February 2005, following Clifford Meyer's Isis in their initial tours in support of ''

Panopticon The panopticon is a design of institutional building with an inbuilt system of control, originated by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be ...

''. Shortly after this release, a split 12" album was released with

Gregor Samsa ''The Metamorphosis'' (), also translated as ''The Transformation'', is a novella by Franz Kafka published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, ''The Metamorphosis'' tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes to find himself inex ...

. The Red Sparowes side contained the second track from ''At the Soundless Dawn'', "Buildings Began to Stretch Wide Across the Sky, And the Air Filled with a Reddish Glow," as well as a track recorded during the album's recording sessions with guitar by Michael Gallagher of Isis, initially only available on the Japanese release of the album. Following the release of the album, the band headlined a tour in Europe and participated in an American tour with

Big Business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...

and

Breather Resist Breather Resist was an American hardcore punk and mathcore band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 2002 and dissolved in 2006. They take their name from the song “Breather Resist” by Hoover. History Breather Resist formed in 2002 and rec ...

. After touring the band released their follow-up record, '' Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun'', in 2006. This release was followed by more touring of North America and Europe, including shows in the US with

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...

. In early 2008 Josh Graham parted ways with the rest of the band to pursue musical project

A Storm of Light A Storm of Light is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 2008. They have been categorized as post-rock, post-metal, doom metal, sludge metal and hard rock, but have moved toward a darker and heavier metal sound. Rock-A-Ro ...

, and was replaced by guitarist Brendan Tobin. In May 2008, Red Sparowes recorded new material with engineer Toshi Kasai (

Melvins Melvins (sometimes the Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with eith ...

, Big Business,

Tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...

), and in August that year the EP

Aphorisms An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...

was released digitally. Tobin departed in 2009 and in June, the band announced

Emma Ruth Rundle Emma Ruth Rundle (born October 10, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, visual artist and poet based in Portland, Oregon. Formerly of the Nocturnes and Marriages, she has released five solo albums and is a member of Red Sparowes. ...

as his replacement. Red Sparowes began recording their third full-length studio album with Kasai on August 24, 2009. The album, titled '' The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer'', was released on April 6, 2010. Red Sparowes had more or less been on an indefinite hiatus since late 2011, but in late September 2019, the band was announced to be playing at the 2020 edition of the

Roadburn The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name. The festival has been held at Tilburg ...

festival, as part of a lineup curated by guitarist

. Former guitarist Brendan Tobin and

Baroness Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight ...

drummer Allen Blickle were announced for the show, joining 2011-era members Andy Arahood, Greg Burns, Clifford Meyer, and Rundle to form a six-piece band. On March 24, 2020, the band announced via their official Facebook account that their show had been postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, similar to many concerts and tours in 2020. In the same post the band also confirmed that they were working on a new album.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' At the Soundless Dawn'' (2005) * '' Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun'' (2006) * '' The Fear Is Excruciating, but Therein Lies the Answer'' (2010)

Live albums

* '' Oh Lord, God of Vengeance, Show Yourself!'' (2006)

EPs

* ''

'' (2008)

Splits

* Untitled split with

(2005) * ''As The Black Wind Withers in the Sky, We Are Graced Dimly in Our Dreams'' split with Grails (2006) * ''Triad'' split with

and

Battle of Mice Battle of Mice was an American post-metal Supergroup (music), supergroup consisting of Julie Christmas, Josh Graham, Joel Hamilton, Tony Maimone, and Joe Tomino. The band's name was derived from a saying by Alexander the Great pertaining to a m ...

(2006)

Band members

Current *

– guitar, keyboards (formerly of

) (2003-2011, 2019–present) * Greg Burns – bass, pedal steel guitar (of

& Halifax Pier) (2003-2011, 2019–present) * Andy Arahood – guitar, bass (of Angel Hair) (2005-2011, 2019–present) * David Clifford – drums (of

The VSS The VSS was an American rock band from Boulder, Colorado, United States. History The VSS formed in 1995 after the breakup of the hardcore group Angel Hair. Vocalist Sonny Kay and guitarist Josh Hughes had both played in Angel Hair; the rest o ...

, Pleasure Forever, Marriages) (2005-2011, 2019–present) *

– guitar (of Marriages & The Nocturnes) (2009-2011, 2019–present) Former * Josh Graham – guitar, keyboards (of

(visuals),

) (2003-2008) *

– guitar, bass (formerly of

) (2003-2004) * Dana Berkowitz – drums (2003-2004) * Brendan Tobin – guitar (of

) (2008-2009)

Timeline

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups from Los Angeles American post-rock groups American post-metal musical groups American instrumental rock musical groups Musical groups established in 2003 Hypertension Records artists