Vitreous Humor was an American alternative rock band formed in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, in the late 1980s by Danny Pound, Brad Allen, and Dan Benson. Described by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

as "not easily categorized", the band was often referred to as "

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

History

Originally a quartet, the band had a revolving door of

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

s until in 1993, Allen opted to play the bass. The group stayed as a trio for a year until the band took in Brooks Rice as their bassist, allowing Allen to return to his role of guitarist. Their sound was an angular, noisy take on indie rock, often juxtaposing clean, jangly chords and minimal guitar lines with dissonant, distorted power chords, much in the vein of

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

. The band's first release was a self-titled 7-inch record, with three songs. Consequently, this was Crank! Records' first release as well. They also released a split 7-inch, sharing their song "Why Are You So Mean To Me?" (which was covered by the band

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) with fellow Crank! band

Boys Life ''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are children between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas. ''Scout Life'' is published ...

and their song "Temporary". Their closest thing to a full-length release while they were still together is a self-titled EP, recorded with producer

Bob Weston Bob Weston (born 1965) is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason AnkenyAnkeny, Jason. " Bob Weston: Overview from Allmusic.com declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over t ...

and released in 1995. The strength of this EP granted the band a lot of publicity, and tours with

Archers of Loaf Archers of Loaf is an American indie rock band originally formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1991. The group toured extensively and released four studio albums, one compilation, numerous singles and EPs, and a live album which was release ...

Urge Overkill Urge Overkill is an American alternative rock band, formed in Chicago in 1986, consisting of Nathan Kaatrud, who took the stage name Nash Kato (vocals/guitar), and Eddie "King" Roeser (vocals/guitar/bass). They are widely known for their song " ...

and Everclear, while the band was hounded with contracts from

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

and Maverick Records. During this period the band recorded several tracks with Dave Trumfio in Chicago and released a 2 song 45 EP on Mute Records, which barely saw the light of day. The song "My Midget" from this session eventually made it to the band's final album, "Posthumous". Eventually, the stress of touring got to the band, culminating in lead singer Danny Pound puncturing his left lung twice. The band broke up shortly afterward in 1996. The members of Vitreous Humor would reunite not long after the original band broke up (minus Brooks Rice) and formed The Regrets, who took the band's previous focus on clean-but-angular guitars and pushed it, as they could no longer be as noisy as they were when Brooks Rice was in the band. Eventually the band reunited again as Vitreous Humor with Rice back in the fold; the band released one more album in 1998- the odds-and-sods "Posthumous". Danny Pound continues to make music as a solo artist as The Danny Pound Band.MySpace.com - The Danny Pound Band - LAWRENCE, KANSAS - Rock / Folk Rock / Acoustique - www.myspace.com/thedannypoundband
/ref> Dan Benson from Vitreous Humor/The Regrets played drums for the band, but left and was replaced by Ken Pingleton.

Discography

Splits and EPs

* ''Vitreous Humor'' (EP, 1994, Crank! Records) *''Boys Life/Vitreous Humor'' (split 7-inch with

, 1994, Crank! Records) * ''Vitreous Humor'' (EP, 1995, Crank! Records)

Albums

* ''Posthumous'' (1998, Crank! Records) * ''Posthumous'' - Reissued with Bonus Tracks (2021, Ernest Jenning Record Co)

References

External links

* AllMusic entry on Vitreous Humor {{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from Kansas American post-hardcore musical groups