Comets on Fire were an American

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extre ...

band from Santa Cruz,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarist and

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

Ethan Miller and longtime friend bassist Ben Flashman, who were seeking to create rhythmically and sonically intense music that paid no attention to categorizations.

History

The band started in 1999 and released their debut record on

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, ...

(

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...

's label). This album shows the influence of the Butthole Surfers,

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

and the MC5. The next album ''Field Recordings from the Sun'' for Ba Da Bing label showed more growth on the record with new drummer Utrillo Kushner, as well as

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

s being added to their noise rock jams. Before the next record the band officially added Ben Chasny of

Six Organs of Admittance Six Organs of Admittance is the primary musical project of American guitarist Ben Chasny. Chasny's music is largely guitar-based and is often considered new folk; however, it includes obvious influences, marked by the use of drones, chimes, and ...

to their lineup in 2003. He had previously performed and recorded with them. With this line-up they got a deal on Sub Pop Records and released their critically acclaimed ''Blue Cathedral''. The record exposed them to a whole new fan base and the record found favor with enough people for Comets on Fire to tour as the opening act for Sonic Youth,

Dinosaur Jr Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlo ...

and Mudhoney. In 2006, they released their fourth album ''Avatar'' which showed the band turning away from their psychedelic noise jams for a more subdued sound that ventures close to

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...

at times. They are notable for their heavy use of the

Echoplex The Echoplex is a tape delay effect, first made in 1959. Designed by Mike Battle, the Echoplex set a standard for the effect in the 1960s—it is still regarded as "the standard by which everything else is measured." It was used by some of the ...

, used primarily on vocals but on other instruments as well. This often renders the lyrics unintelligible; Miller claims to not remember the lyrics after putting an album together. After completing tours for ''Avatar'' through 2008, the band went on an extended hiatus. In the intervening period Ethan Miller began focusing attention on his Howlin' Rain project, and Noel von Harmonson joined

Sic Alps Sic Alps were an American garage rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 2004 by Mike Donovan and Adam Stonehouse, they released music on Siltbreeze, Drag City, Woodsist and several other independent record labels. After signing ...

. In 2012, the band members regrouped to record as Six Organs of Admittance for a new album entitled ''Ascent''. In an interview with ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'', Chasny emphasized that the group had not broken up, but that future plans were still uncertain. In June 2013, the band announced via their website that they would play the final

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

festival, in Camber Sands.

Band members

* Ethan Miller - vocals, guitar * Noel von Harmonson - echoplex, drums * Ben Flashman - bass * Utrillo Kushner - drums, keyboards * Ben Chasny - guitar

Discography

Albums

* '' Comets on Fire'' (2001) * '' Field Recordings from the Sun'' (2002) * '' Blue Cathedral'' (2004) * ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

'' (2006)

Other

* ''Live in Europa'' (Split LP with Major Stars, Limited 500 copies) (2003) * ''Bong Voyage'' (Limited 800 copies) (2003) * ''Cardboard Sub Pop Promo Jams'' (Limited 1000 copies) (2004) * ''Euro Tour 5 CDR Boxset'' (Self Released, limited 10 copies) (2005) * ''Collaboration'' (Split LP with

Burning Star Core Burning Star Core is the experimental music project of violinist C. Spencer Yeh. Originally conceived 1993 in Cincinnati, the project is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Composing music that's driven by his violin, Yeh's Burning Star Core ...

, Limited 1000 copies) (2005)

Related projects

* Howlin' Rain *

* Colossal Yes - side project of Utrillo Kushner *

Heron Oblivion Heron Oblivion is an American psychedelic rock supergroup that first performed in April 2014, when they opened for the War on Drugs. Its members, all of whom were active in the psych-rock scene in the mid 2000s, are: singer and drummer Meg Baird ...

References

External links

Comets on Fire Take Off
in ''Exclaim! magazine''
Comets on Fire
at Sub Pop records * Allmusic entrybr>Comets on Fire
on Last.fm
Interview
with Ethan Miller :dead link
Instagram account
Official page, created in 2015 {{Authority control Alternative Tentacles artists Indie rock musical groups from California