Smashing Orange was an American band formed in 1990. They released three albums before splitting up in the mid-1990s. Their early sound saw them classified as

shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volum ...

History

The band was formed by siblings Rob and Sara Montejo, with Rick Hodgson, Steve Wagner, and Tim Supplee, all of whom worked together in a local record store, and had left or dropped out of college prior to forming the band. When Lush played at The Marquee Club in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Smashing Orange provided the support, unfortunately Sara was unable to enter the UK as she was under 16, so the band played their European tour as a four-piece. The band was signed by UK label Native Records, their first release being the single "My Deranged Heart" in April 1991, gaining comparisons with the likes of My Bloody Valentine and

Galaxie 500 Galaxie 500 was an American indie rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three studio albums: '' Today'' (1988), '' On Fire'' (1989), and '' This Is Our Music'' (1990). The band membership comprised guitarist and v ...

. Their sound has also been described as sounding "like

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would if they had any balls about them".Lambert, Charles (1992) "Smashing Orange at Oxford Jericho Tavern, 28th November 1991", ''Spiral Scratch'', 23rg Jan-5th Feb 1992 This was followed a month later by a self-titled mini-album, and in November of that year by second single "Not Very Much To See". While they were in the UK, Native arranged for them to record a session for the

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radio show, which was broadcast in February 1992. Native released the mini album ''Above Ming Gardens'' in 1992. Their first full-length album, ''The Glass Bead Game'', was released in 1992, with third album, 1994's ''No Return in the End'' seeing a shift in style towards a harder garage rock sound, and also a move to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

. Sara Montejo had left earlier and Supplee had been replaced on drums by Stroller White, but a disappointing response to the album saw the band split soon after its release. An anthology of their early work, ''1991'' was issued by Elephant Stone Records in 2005.

The Sky Drops

Rob Montejo went on to form

Love American Style ''Love, American Style'' is an American anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from September 29, 1969, to January 11, 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a pa ...

, releasing "Undo" on Oxygen Records. He then formed the short-lived, My Wig is On. They released an internet-only EP in 2002. In 2004, he released a self-titled internet-only full length. He is currently in the gaze-grunge duo The Sky Drops with Monika Bullette (drums/vocals). Their first EP ''Clouds of People'' was released in 2006. Their debut full length ''Bourgeois Beat'' was released in the Summer of 2009. The EP "Making Mountains" was released in June 2011. They performed at the 2011

Austin Psych Fest Levitation and Austin Psych Fest are two annual multi-day music festivals developed and produced by The Reverberation Appreciation Society. Starting out under the name Austin Psych Fest as a single-location, three-day festival, the festival was r ...

Discography

Singles/EPs

*"My Deranged Heart" (

Native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

/Ringers Lactate) 1991 *"Not Very Much To See" (Native) 1991 * track" My Deranged Heart" included on album "Guitar and Drums" a native document (native)1991

Albums

*''Smashing Orange'' (Native) 1991 *''Above Ming Gardens'' (Native) 1992 *''The Glass Bead Game'' (American Native) 1992 *''No Return In The End'' ( MCA) 1994 *''1991'' (Elephant Stone) 2005

References

External links

The Sky Drops
* Allmusic entry for Smashing Orange

Press archive

Smashing Orange at discogs.com
{{Authority control American shoegaze musical groups Musical groups established in 1990 Alternative rock groups from Delaware Musical groups from Wilmington, Delaware