The Nation of Ulysses was an American
punk rock band from
Washington, D.C.
)
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, formed in spring 1988 with four members. Originally known as simply "Ulysses," the first mark of the group consisted of
Ian Svenonius
Ian F Svenonius is an American musician and singer of various Washington, D.C.-based punk bands including Nation of Ulysses, the Make-Up, Weird War, XYZ, Escape-ism, and Chain and the Gang. Between his numerous projects, Svenonius has releas ...
on vocals and trumpet, Steve Kroner on guitar, Steve Gamboa on bass guitar, and
James Canty
James Canty is a Brooklyn, New York-based multi-instrumentalist musician from Washington, D.C.
Canty is currently known for playing guitar in the band Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and guitar and keyboard with The Make-Up. Before forming The Ma ...
on drums. Tim Green joined the band late in 1989 as a guitarist and the band became "Nation of Ulysses." Nation of Ulysses disbanded in the autumn of 1992, having failed to complete their third album. After the breakup, Svenonius, Canty, and Gamboa went on to form the short-lived
Cupid Car Club
Cupid Car Club, also known as Cupid Car Club M.P., was a short-lived American post-hardcore band consisting of Ian Svenonius on vocals, James Canty on drums, Steve Gamboa on guitar (all of which were previously members of Nation of Ulysses and la ...
and
The Make-Up. Tim Green went on to help create
The Fucking Champs
The Fucking Champs are a three-piece rock band from San Francisco, California. They are known for their heavy metal sound, based largely around shifting time signatures, guitar harmonies, and plentiful rhythm. Most songs are instrumental. They ...
, a mostly-instrumental trio out of San Francisco, and later Concentrick, a solo project with a focus on ambient music.
Nation of Ulysses was known for their
far-left politics
Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...
, their extremely physical live performances, and their unique take on punk culture and fashion. In total, Nation of Ulysses released three full-length albums, and two vinyl
EPs released on
Dischord Records
Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release ''Minor Disturbance'' by their band The Teen Idles. ...
, and were featured on a number of compilation albums on a variety of record labels.
History
The band formed in spring 1988, initially composed of four members –
Ian Svenonius
Ian F Svenonius is an American musician and singer of various Washington, D.C.-based punk bands including Nation of Ulysses, the Make-Up, Weird War, XYZ, Escape-ism, and Chain and the Gang. Between his numerous projects, Svenonius has releas ...
on vocals and trumpet, Steve Kroner on guitar, Steve Gamboa on bass guitar, and
James Canty
James Canty is a Brooklyn, New York-based multi-instrumentalist musician from Washington, D.C.
Canty is currently known for playing guitar in the band Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and guitar and keyboard with The Make-Up. Before forming The Ma ...
on drums – and known simply as "Ulysses." In late 1989, Tim Green joined the band as a second guitarist and the band was renamed to "Nation of Ulysses."
In 1990, before the band released any official albums, Ian Svenonius was featured as teen-oriented ''
Sassy Magazine
''Sassy'' magazine is a defunct, general interest teen magazine aimed at young women. It covered a wide variety of topics, and was intended as a feminist counterpoint to '' Seventeen'' and '' YM'' magazines. ''Sassy'' existed between 1988 and 1996 ...
s first "Sassiest Boy in America." He was interviewed at length in the magazine's October issue, going into some depth about the band's sound and political motivations.
In 1991 they released their first full-length album, ''
13-Point Program to Destroy America'' on
Dischord Records
Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release ''Minor Disturbance'' by their band The Teen Idles. ...
. This was followed a year later by ''
Plays Pretty for Baby'', also on Dischord. During the recording of the band's follow-up to ''Plays Pretty for Baby'', Steve Kroner left the band. The remaining quartet continued to record, but eventually dissolved in 1992. In a later interview, Svenonius explained the reason for the split: "Nation of Ulysses broke up because the epoch changed with the advent of
digital music
Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, sa ...
and the
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
explosion. We were faced with what's now known as
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 ...
, a sort of vacuous form. We had to determine our next move and this
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After_the_band's_dissolution,_Svenonius_went_on_to_form_the_short-lived_Cupid_Car_Club_
Cupid_Car_Club,_also_known_as_Cupid_Car_Club_M.P.,_was_a_short-lived_American_post-hardcore_band_consisting_of_Ian_Svenonius_on_vocals,_James_Canty_on_drums,_Steve_Gamboa_on_guitar_(all_of_which_were_previously_members_of_Nation_of_Ulysses_and_la_...