Majesty Crush was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band which belonged to the

shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

genre popularized in the UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Hailing from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, Majesty Crush formed in 1990 and broke up in 1995. The band's lineup consisted of lead singer David Stroughter (1966-2017), bassist Hobey Echlin, guitarist Michael Segal and drummer Odell Nails III.

History

Majesty Crush served as the opening act at shows in the early 1990s for such bands as

Jesus Jones Jesus Jones are a British alternative rock band from Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, formed in late 1988, who continue to record and perform, as of 2021. Their track " Right Here, Right Now" was an international hit, and was subsequently globall ...

Mazzy Star Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Santa Monica, California, from remnants of the group Opal. Founding member David Roback's friend Hope Sandoval became the group's vocalist when Kendra Smith left Opal. Mazzy Star ...

Royal Trux Royal Trux was an American alternative rock band active from 1987 to 2001, reuniting in 2015 but disbanded once again in 2019. It was founded by Neil Hagerty (vocals, guitar) and Jennifer Herrema (vocals). History While still a teenager, Hagerty ...

, and

The Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simo ...

. The song "No. 1 Fan" picked up significant radio airplay on

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

89X CIMX-FM (88.7 MHz, ''Pure Country 89'') is a commercial radio station in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves Essex County, but has a signal that reaches the entire Detroit-Windsor metropolitan area. It is owned by Bell Media and airs a ...

, and led to Majesty Crush signing with

Dali Records Dali or Dalí may refer to: Chinese history * Kingdom of Dali (937–1253 AD), centered in modern Yunnan * Kingdom of Nanzhao or Dali, Kingdom of Dali's predecessor state * Dali, Emperor Daizong of Tang's third and last regnal period (766–779) ...

, a

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/ Elektra subsidiary. The label released ''Love 15'', the band's lone studio album, in 1993.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Joshua Glazer described the album as "a testament to what might have been, if only the band's four members lived in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

instead of Detroit." The band's momentum came to an abrupt halt, however, when Dali folded within a month of the album's release. Majesty Crush returned a year later with the self-released ''Sans Muscles'' EP before breaking up in 1995. David Stroughter went on to form the band P.S. I Love You. In 2009, Full Effect Records released the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

''I Love You in Other Cities: The Best of Majesty Crush 1990–1995''. ''

OC Weekly ''OC Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly paper distributed in Orange County and Long Beach, California. OC Weekly was founded in September 1995 by Will Swaim, who acted as editor and publisher until 2007. The paper was distributed at coffee ...

''s Dave Segal remarked that the album "offers 14 reasons why we should still care about this footnote in shoegaze-rock history." AllMusic's Heather Phares called it "a good retrospective of a band that just may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time." Laura Witkowski of ''

Metro Times The ''Detroit Metro Times'' is a progressive alternative weekly located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in the metro Detroit area. History and content Supported entirely by advertising, it is distributed f ...

'' said the album "feels like the work of a superfan, one keen to share his excitement for a band deserving of more attention than it received."

Musical style and lyrical content

While incorporating the same lush, dreamy sound as other shoegazing acts of the time, it was the lyrics of Majesty Crush songs that set them apart from other artists of the genre. Stroughter's often strange and obsessive lyrics cover such subjects as stalking

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...

("No. 1 Fan"), torture ("Boyfriend"), heroin ("Horse"), a female cashier at an adult book store ("Sunny Pie"), actresses ("

Uma Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in ...

"), tennis stars (" Seles") and Italian porn stars ("

Cicciolina Ilona Staller (born 26 November 1951), widely known by her stage name Cicciolina ("little chubby one"), is a Hungarian-Italian former porn star, politician, and singer. Early life Ilona was born in Budapest, Hungary. Her father, László Stal ...

").

Discography

Studio album

Compilation album

EPs and singles

References

External links

Majesty Crush
on Myspace * {{Authority control Dream pop musical groups Indie rock musical groups from Michigan Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1995 Musical groups from Detroit Shoegazing musical groups 1990 establishments in Michigan