The Tables was an underground/ DIY pop group formed in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Norway, in 1988. The three main musicians were Bartleby (vocals, real name Tore Sørensen), Robert Birdeye (bass guitar and drums, real name Steinar Buholm), and Reg Trademark (guitar, real name Ståle Caspersen). The band was connected to an earlier group called The Bottle Collectors. The Tables' original trio recorded their first 7-inch, ''Diary EP'', which was released on the new-founded

Voices of Wonder Voices of Wonder a.k.a. Voice of Wonder Records was one of the most important rock record labels in Oslo, Norway in the early 1990s. The label was fronted by a small and intimate record store on Olaf Ryes plass, which in addition to the labels own ...

label in 1988. Their first vinyl album was called ''Shady Whims & Obstacles''. For the album, which was released on their own Schtooopid Records in 1990, they recruited Sandy Shore (real name Kjersti Gravklev) on

Farfisa Farfisa () is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professional and VIP ranges, and later, a se ...

organ, and Mono (real name Benedikte Sterner) on drums. The Tables broke up soon after the release, but the original trio reformed in 1996 or 1997 to record their second album, ''Holiday at Wobbledef Grunch'', released on Perfect Pop Records, a small label that was run by the group members and others from the indie-pop scene in Oslo. The band once again broke up, but reformed in 2000 and made their third and final album, ''Nevermynd the Hillocks (Treble Without a Cause)'', again on Perfect Pop Records; it was released in 2003. The band had a host of different members during this stage, most of them contributing to their last album. Between their first and second albums they also recorded eight songs for a

split album A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from "v ...

with Astroburger, under the name Monsters of Doom, consisting of Bartleby, Trademark, Birdeye, Shore and Mike Mushroom (real name Mikkel Bay Vold). All of The Tables and Monsters of Doom output has been released on CD by Perfect Pop. The music on all The Tables' three albums was a mixture of

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is a genre of pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the mid-to-late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, ...

inspired by English groups of the 1960s (especially the music represented on the ''

Rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

'' compilation series on Bam-Caruso Records) and early indie pop ''à la''

Television Personalities The Television Personalities are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 by London singer-songwriter Dan Treacy.Earp, Joseph.The Missing Man Of Music: A Search For The Elusive Dan Treacy Of Television Personalities. ''The Brag'', 26 July 2016 ...

; while the Monsters of Doom tracks were more psychedelic and hard-edged. With their whimsy, somewhat surrealistic lyrics, and melodic hooks, The Tables gained a reputation in the Norwegian underground and other parts of the world.

Discography

*''The Diary EP'' (Voices of Wonder, 1989) *''The Lantern Light'' Flexi 7-inch (1990) *''From Trash To Gloss'' (fanclubcassette, 1990) *''Live at Bootleg'' (fanclubcassette, (1990) *''Shady Whims & Obstacles'' (Schtooopid Records, 1990) *''Lost on Venus'' Split-LP w/ Astroburger under the name Monsters of Doom (Perfect Pop 1991) *''Shady Whimps with Spectacles'' (fanclubcassette, 1993) *''Excerpt from the Bruce Springsteen Report'' 7-inch (Farce Recordings 1995) *''Holiday at Wobbledef Grunch'' (Perfect Pop, 1997) *''Kjære alle sammen'' cdep/7-inch (Voices of Wonder, 1997) *''The Tables Play Idle Race'' 7-inch (Kippers Records, 2000) *''

See Emily Play "See Emily Play" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released as their second single on 16 June 1967 on the Columbia label. Written by original frontman Syd Barrett, it was released as a non-album single but appeared as the opening ...

Arnold Layne "Arnold Layne" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd. Released on 10 March 1967, it was the band's first single and was written by Syd Barrett. Lyrics The song is about a man whose strange hobby is stealing women's lingerie from washing l ...

'' 7-inch (Two Zero Records, 2000) *''Nevermynd the Hillocks (Treble Without a Cause)'' (Perfect Pop, 2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tables, The Musical groups from Oslo Norwegian musical trios