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 vol ...

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 and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, 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 alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums: ''Today'', '' On Fire'' and '' This Is Our Music''. The band was made up of guitarist/vocalist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon K ...

. Their sound has also been described as sounding "like Ride 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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BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wi ...

. 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 Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantid ...

in 2005.

The Sky Drops

Rob Montejo went on to form

Love American Style ''Love, American Style'' is an anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a part of ABC's Friday primetime lineup ...

, 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 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. History The band was formed by siblings Rob and Sara Montejo, with Rick H ...

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 (formerly Austin Psych Fest) is an annual 3-day music festival developed and produced by The Reverberation Appreciation Society. Since its sixth year in 2013 it has been held at Carson Creek Ranch in Austin, Texas. Inspired by the creati ...

Discography

Singles/EPs

*"My Deranged Heart" (

Native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

/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 MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

) 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 Philadelphia