Morella's Forest was a band from

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

which formed in 1992. They released three albums on Tooth and Nail Records and one with an independent label. Their signature sound is

noise pop Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoega ...

or space music comparable to

Starflyer 59 Starflyer 59 is an American alternative rock band from Riverside, California that was founded in 1993 by Jason Martin, brother of Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band h ...

the Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherso ...

Background

Before signing to Tooth and Nail, Morella's Forest produced two works: a demo called ''Bass'', and an EP entitled ''Bozur''. Their 1995 debut, ''Superdeluxe'', was produced by Steve Hindalong ( The Choir) and Chris Colbert (Fluffy). Its sound was characteristic of 1980s style new wave or 1990s

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 ...

. Sonically it featured noisy, "dreamy, hypnotic" melodies, and featured Bill Campbell of the Throes as a guest. Morella's Forest appeared on the cover of ''

7ball ''7ball'' is a discontinued Christian music magazine, first published in 1995. They focused on rock, hip-hop, and other "alternative" forms of Christian music. The magazine was initially published by the Royal Magazine Group (a division of Thoma ...

'' magazine in September, 1996. ''Ultraphonic Hiss'' and ''From Dayton With Love'' were produced by Keith Cleversley. ''Ultraphonic'' features a sound which moves the band slightly away from the noise of their debut. ''Dayton'' features some electronic elements—keyboard and drum machine—and moves their sound to an even more sugary guitar based pop sound, which one reviewer referred to as "space age garage pop." Some found this sound to be lacking of "solid melodies," while others found the voice of Sydney Rentz layered over the background lively and fluid. The band struggled with the Christian music marketplace, finding the struggle between artistic integrity and profitability hard to maintain. After a half-cancelled tour in 1996 the band reported that although they were still "100% about fashion" they would direct their efforts toward the general market and emphasize a radio friendly sound. They told ''7ball'' magazine that the only way to make money was to be like dc Talk or

Audio Adrenaline Audio Adrenaline was an American Christian rock band that formed in 1986 at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky. The band gained recognition during the 1990s and received two Grammy Awards and multiple Dove Awards. Audio Adr ...

, and as for themselves "We don't want to be some innovative, cool band that's doing something really weird for the Christian market." Following their 1998 release drummer Nate McCorkle left to join the Christian rock band

Johnny Q. Public Johnny Q. Public (sometimes stylized as johnny Q. public) was a Christian alternative rock band from Springfield, Missouri. Although their sound was wholly modern, it was influenced by bands such as Led Zeppelin and Cream. In addition to their m ...

. The band went through several drummers and played Cornerstone sporadically, but did not generally tour. In 2002 they produced an album entitled ''Tiny Lights of Heaven''. On this album the writing responsibilities were taken by Shawn Johnson instead of long-standing writer Sydney Rentz. With production help from Jesse Sprinkle their music departs a bit from their signature sound, taking a lighter and more indie pop influenced, radio friendly tone.

Discography

*1995: ''Hang Out'' P(Tooth & Nail) *1995: ''Superdeluxe'' (Reviews: ''

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 databa ...

'', ''CCM'') *1996: ''Ultraphonic Hiss'' (Review: ''

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 databa ...

'') *1998: ''From Dayton With Love'' (Reviews: ''Youthworker'', ''Phantom Tollbooth'', ''7ball'', ''Cornerstone'') *2002: ''Tiny Lights of Heaven'' (Big Beef (US) / Endearing (CAN), Reviews: ''Phantom Tollbooth'' (4), ''

'')

Members

*Shawn Johnson – guitar (1992–2002) *Sydney Rentz – vocals (1992–2002) *Jesse Sprinkle – drums (2001–2002) *Joel Votaw – bass (2001–2002) *Christopher McCorkle – bass (1992–1998) *Nate McCorkle – drums (1992–1998)

References

Bibliography

* * {{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from Ohio Musical groups from Dayton, Ohio Noise pop musical groups American shoegaze musical groups