Hammerbox was an American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band from

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. The band formed around 1990 and disbanded in 1994 when lead singer

Carrie Akre Carrie Akre (born September 24, 1966) is an American singer best known for her work with Seattle underground bands Hammerbox and Goodness. Since Goodness disbanded in 1998, she has contributed vocals to the project band The Rockfords (which in ...

left the band to form Goodness.

History

Hammerbox formed around 1990 in Seattle and released their first LP, ''

Hammerbox Hammerbox was an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band formed around 1990 and disbanded in 1994 when lead singer Carrie Akre left the band to form Goodness. History Hammerbox formed around 1990 in Seattle and re ...

'' on independent label

C/Z Records C/Z Records was a Seattle-based punk rock record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale. It started with the release of '' Deep Six'' which collected the earliest recordings of what later came to be known as ...

. This album earned them the opportunity to sign to a major label,

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, with whom they released their second album. However, despite the band's appearance at rock festival

Endfest Endfest was an annual summer music festival hosted by KNDD, also known as 107.7 The End, an alternative rock radio station based in Seattle, Washington. It featured such bands as Mudhoney, Beastie Boys, Interpol, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wolfmothe ...

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

to support their album, it did not sell well and the band was dropped by the label. James Atkins left the band in early 1994, and the rest of the members followed suit shortly thereafter. Carrie Akre formed Goodness, while Harris Thurmond went on to form Anodyne (later renamed to Marfa Lights) with

That Petrol Emotion That Petrol Emotion were a London-based Northern Ireland-originating band with an American vocalist, Steve Mack. It featured the O'Neill brothers from celebrated Derry pop-punk band The Undertones plus ex-members of fellow Derry bands Bam Bam and ...

singer Steve Mack. Thurmond formed Orbiter in 2000, and later Kingsley in 2003. ''

Live EMP Skychurch, Seattle, WA ''Live EMP Skychurch, Seattle, WA'' is the first (and only) live album by Hammerbox Hammerbox was an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band formed around 1990 and disbanded in 1994 when lead singer Carrie Akre left ...

'', an album containing live material from the band's reunion show, was released in 2005. Bassist James Atkins died in 2016 from

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voice ...

. He was 49.

Members

– vocals *Harris Thurmond – guitar *James Atkins (died 2016) – bass *Dave Birenbaum – drums & additional vocals

Discography

*"Kept House" / "After All" – 7-inch (1990) *"

New Rose "New Rose" by The Damned was the first single by a British punk rock group, released on 22 October 1976 on Stiff Records, and in 1977 in the Netherlands, Germany and France. Written by guitarist Brian James, "New Rose" was also included on t ...

", The Damned cover on ''Another Damned Seattle Compilation'',

Dashboard Hula Girl Records For business applications, see Dashboard (business). A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel (IP), or fascia) is a control panel set within the central console of a vehicle or small aircraft. Usually located directly ahead of the driver ...

(1991) * ''Hammerbox'' (1991) * ''Numb'' (1993) *''

'' (2005) The songs "Trip" and "Simple Passing" from the album ''Numb'' are featured in the soundtrack of the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

Road Rash Road rash is a colloquial term for skin injury caused by abrasion with road surfaces, often as a consequence of cycling and motorcycling accidents. It may also result from running, inline skating, roller skating, skateboarding, and longboarding ...

'', by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

References

External links

* C/Z Records artists Rock music groups from Washington (state) American grunge groups Musical groups from Seattle Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 {{US-alternative-rock-band-stub