ST 37 is an

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

-based

psych ''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened o ...

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

band formed in 1987.

History

ST 37 was founded in 1987 by bassist S.L. Telles, vocalist Carlton Crutcher, guitarist Joel Crutcher and drummer John Foxworth. Telles (previously part of the punk band Vast Majority) was in the Elegant Doormats, while the Crutcher brothers were in Tulum; Foxworth was in both bands. They were joined by keyboardist Jon Torn of Thanatopsis Throne. The band drew their name from a song by Chrome. A series of cassette releases was followed by the band's first CD, ''The Invisible College'', in 1992. The next few years saw the release of another album, ''Glare'', the departure of Torn, and some other lineup changes, with Foxworth replaced by Lance Farley on drums, and he later by Lisa Cameron (then known as Dave), who had previously played with

Brave Combo Brave Combo is a polka rock band based in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1979 by guitarist/Keyboard instrument, keyboardist/accordionist Carl Finch, they have been a prominent fixture in the Texas music scene for more than thirty-five years. Their m ...

Glass Eye An ocular prosthesis, artificial eye or glass eye is a type of craniofacial prosthesis that replaces an absent natural eye following an enucleation, evisceration, or orbital exenteration. Someone with an ocular prosthesis is altogether blind ...

, Three Day Stubble and

Roky Erickson Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson (July 15, 1947 – May 31, 2019) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. Called an "outsider genius," he was a founding member and the leader of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic r ...

. Mark Stone joined in 1997 on guitar, and the band released their next studio album, ''Spaceage'', in 1998. That summer, they helped usher in a series of silent film screenings with live accompaniment at Austin's

Alamo Drafthouse The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the film, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...

theater with a performance of their own score for Fritz Lang's 1927 film ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

''. They later performed another original film score there, for Lang's 1921 film ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words ''fate'' and ''destiny'' ...

''. Following the release of two more albums in 1999 and 2000, Carlton Crutcher left to form the band Book of Shadows. Mark Stone left in the late 2000s, while Bobby Baker, a member of the Baby Robots and Rubble, joined as guitarist/vocalist in time for the 2010 release of ''High and Inside''. Later, ST 37 added Chris Cones, formerly of Skullcaster, SubArachnoid Space and How I Quit Crack, on keyboards and electronics. The band continues to perform and record in Austin.

Musical style

ST 37's sound combines several musical styles including

, prog,

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 ...

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 ...

and

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...

. In the band's early days, they aimed to combine two major influences: the space rock of

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

and the raw, experimental rock of Chrome. Other influences include

the 13th Floor Elevators The 13th Floor Elevators was an American Rock music, rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and lead vocalist, vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug (instrument), jug player Tommy Hall (American musician), Tommy Hall, ...

, Can,

Amon Düül II Amon Düül II (or Amon Düül 2, PronunciationAmon Düül are a German rock band formed in 1968. The group is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the West German krautrock scene. Their 1970 album ''Yeti'' was described by British m ...

and

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has ...

. Their music has been described as "swirling", "multitextured" and "mind-altering space-punk". In 2013 the ''Austin Chronicle'' described the band's live performances as "drowning in a haze of guitar and reverb that can drift through cosmically shifting layers of aggressive punk riffs, fuzzed noise, and scalding jams".

Discography

Albums

*''from space w/love'' (1989, Blue Circle, cassette, LP) *''The Invisible College'' (1992, Over and Out, CD) *''John Deere Isolation Tank'' (1994, Blue Circle, cassette) *''Glare'' (1995, Helter Skelter/Prospective/Electric Jug, double LP) *''Spaceage'' (1998, Black Widow, LP + 7", CD) *''The Secret Society'' (1999, Lost, LP) *''I Love to Talk, if There's Anything to Talk About'' (2000,

Emperor Jones Emperor Jones is a small Austin, Texas based independent record label founded in 1995 by Craig Stewart. It has released albums by acts such as Alastair Galbraith, The American Analog Set, Roky Erickson, Thuja, ST37, The Mountain Goats, Stick Men ...

, CD) *''Frantic Search for Zero'' (2001, Blue Circle, CD-R) *''Nunavut'' (2002, Blue Circle, double CD-R) *''Down On Us'' (2002, Emperor Jones, CD) *''The Insect Hospital'' (2004, Black Widow, double LP, CD) *''Live 2003'' (2004, Blue Circle, CD-R) *''Destiny'' (2004, Blue Circle, double CD-R) *''and then what'' (2007, Noiseville, LP) *''High and Inside'' (2010, Blue Circle, CD) *''Awkward Moments'' (2012, Reverb Worship, CD-R) *''I'm Not Good'' (2014,

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

, CD) *''ST 37'' (2018, Super Secret Records, double LP, CD)

Singles/EPs

*''billygoat nothinghead'' EP (1987, Blue Circle, cassette) *"Look At Yr Chair / Pumpkinface" (1991, Over and Out, 7" single) *"Taboo / Hoodoo" (1992, Noiseville, 7" single) *"The Gypsy's Curse / Crab Nebula" (1993, Prospective, 7" single) *''I Smoked Kevin Costner's Shitty Pot'' EP (2000, Blue Circle, CD-R) *"Lactating Purple", split single with the Linus Pauling Quartet (2010, 7" single) *''KBDP'' EP (2011, Kendra Steiner Editions, CD-R)

Compilations

*''Future Memories'' (2005, Four/Four, CD-R)

Selected compilation appearances

*Various Artists, ''The Polyp Explodes'' (1988, Deadline, cassette) *Various Artists, ''From Twisted Minds Come Twisted Products'' (1990, Noiseville, LP) *Various Artists, ''Assassins Of Silence: Hundred Watt Violence'' (1995, Ceres, CD, double LP) *Various Artists, ''Only Bowie'' (1995, Only Boy Records, CD) *Various Artists, ''Live From the Devil's Triangle, Volume 2'' (1999, KFJC, double CD) *Various Artists, ''Children of Black Widow'' (2000, Black Widow, CD) *Various Artists, ''What? Are You on Drugs?'' (2002, Ant Lunch Musick, CD) *Various Artists, ''Hall of Mirrors'' (2005, Emperor Jones, double CD) *Various Artists, ''You've Been Duplicated, Burning Chrome To Disc In The Cyberage'' (2005, Aktivator, CD) *Various Artists, ''Garden of Eno'' (2010, Lost, LP)

References

External links

ST 37
(official website)
ST 37 on Bandcamp

ST 37 on Myspace

ST 37 on Rutracker
{{DEFAULTSORT:ST 37 Psychedelic rock music groups from Texas Musical groups from Austin, Texas Musical groups established in 1987