The VSS was an American rock band from
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...
, 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 of the lineup consisted of bassist Andrew Douglas Rothbard and Dave Clifford.
[Unsung Heroes: The VSS]
''The Fix'', June 5, 2008. They quickly released several 7" records and toured the United States, achieving nationwide notice among the underground punk scene with acclaim from publications such as ''
Maximum Rocknroll'' and ''
Flipside''. Midway through their career, the band relocated to
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. Their only album, ''Nervous Circuits'', was released on Honey Bear Records in 1997, and the group broke up shortly thereafter.
Sonny Kay went on to sing with
Year Future and founded the label
Gold Standard Laboratories, which re-released their Gravity 7" records as a CD entitled ''21:51'' in 2000. Dave Clifford, Josh Hughes, and Andrew Douglas Rothbard formed a new group called Slaves, which changed its name to Pleasure Forever, and released two full-length LP's on
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...
records. Dave Clifford later played with
Red Sparowes. Josh Hughes went on to form the band Rabbits, and Andrew Douglas Rothbard has released several solo albums.
Their use of
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
s and
keyboards in a hardcore punk setting was uncommon for its time, but has been recognized as an influence on bands such as
The Faint
The Faint is an American indie rock band. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Graham Ulicny, Dapose and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes (band), Brig ...
and
Death From Above 1979
Death from Above 1979 (also known as Death from Above or DFA 1979) is a Canadian rock duo consisting of bassist Jesse F. Keeler and drummer and vocalist Sebastien Grainger from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2001. The band released their debut album ...
. In 2008,
Hydra Head Records re-released ''Nervous Circuits'' on CD with a bonus DVD, as well as an additional bonus CD with the first 1,000 copies.
Review of ''Nervous Circuits''
Scene Point Blank, June 18, 2008. In 2013, Sargent House issued a remastered version of "Nervous Circuits" as a limited-edition double vinyl LP. The second LP consists of tracks from "21:51" and other rarities.
Members
*Sonny Kay - vocals
*Josh Hughes - guitar
*Andrew Douglas Rothbard - bass and synthesizer
*Dave Clifford - drums
Discography
*''The VSS'' 7" ( Strict Records No. 4, 1995)
*''The VSS/T-Tauri'' Split 7" ( Titanic Records No. 8, 1995)
*''The VSS'' 7" ( Gravity Records No. 25, 1996)
*''21:51'' CD ( Gold Standard Laboratories, No. 7 1996)
*''The VSS/Rye Coalition'' Split double 7" ( Super 8 records No. 13, 1997)
*''Nervous Circuits'' LP and CD ( Honey Bear Records, No. 16,1997)
*''21:51'' CD ( Gold Standard Laboratories, No. 7 re-released with different artwork, 2000)
*''Nervous Circuits'' CD/DVD reissue ( Hydra Head Records, No. 158, 2008)
*''Nervous Circuits'' 2LP reissue ( Sargent House, No. 081, 2013)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:VSS, The
Rock music groups from Colorado
American experimental rock groups
American post-hardcore musical groups