Pure Bathing Culture is an American

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band from

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, United States.

Career

The group's members, Sarah Versprille and Daniel Hindman, first met while college students in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, they lived in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and both moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

in 2011, playing in the group

Vetiver ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to ''Sorghum'' but shares many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such as ...

. Around 2012 they began playing live shows, and released an EP produced by Richard Swift in 2012 on

Father/Daughter Records Father/Daughter Records is an independent record label based in San Francisco, California. It is owned and operated by Jessi Frick, a former marketing and publicity executive at Fiddler Records, and her father Ken Hector, and was formed in 2010. I ...

. The band toured in the US opening for

Caveman The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or "ape-like" by Marcellin ...

and

Father John Misty Joshua Michael Tillman (born May 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Father John Misty, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has also performed and released studio albums under the name J. Tillman. Maintainin ...

. The band released its first album on

Partisan Records Partisan Records is an independent record label with offices in London and Los Angeles, as well as in New York City, where the company was co-founded in 2007 by Tim Putnam and Ian Wheeler. The label, initially run out of Putnam’s South Brooklyn ...

in 2013. The album was highlighted by the single, "Pendulum", which some critics likened in style to

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

. One of the tracks, "Scotty", drew its lyrics and melody in part from the 1980 hit single " Into the Night" by

Benny Mardones Ruben Armand "Benny" Mardones (November 9, 1946 – June 29, 2020) was an American pop/rock singer and songwriter who was best known for his hit single " Into the Night", which hit the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart twice, in 1980 ( ...

. Touring for this release included a full US tour opening for Widowspeak, followed by co-headline tour with La Luz and another full US tour opening for

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

in the fall of 2014. The band recorded their second album with producer

John Congleton John Congleton is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, engineer, mixer, writer and musician. In addition to his production work, Congleton has fronted the alternative rock band the Paper Chase, and writes music for a newer project e ...

in February 2015 in Dallas, Texas. The band released its second album on Partisan Records, ''Pray for Rain'', which was released on October 23, 2015.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

said: "And it’s their strength with melodies that will keep listeners coming back…..they prove they have a sparklingly sure touch for the purest kind of guitar pop, with a song whose arpeggiated guitar line is a smile set to music." This release was followed by a country-wide headlining tour as well as a headlining tour in the UK with sold-out shows in Manchester and London. More touring in the US followed in 2016 including opening slots for

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

Chvrches Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving f ...

, and

Death Cab For Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboar ...

. In 2017, the band toured opening for

and

The Shins The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

and began work on their third album with producer

Tucker Martine Tucker Martine (born January 14, 1972) is an American record producer, musician and composer. In 2010, ''Paste'' Magazine included Martine in their list of the 10 Best Producers of the Decade. Early life Tucker Martine, the son of singer and son ...

. On April 26, 2019, the band released ''Night Pass'' on the new indie record label, Infinite Companion. Produced by

, recorded at Flora Recording and Playback in their hometown, Portland, Oregon, ''Night Pass'' is a record about perseverance and the lasting strength of love.

Pitchfork (website) ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

summated the experiences as follows, "Pure Bathing Culture juxtapose the highs with the lows, packaging distress as euphoria. The album does its most interesting work on songs like “Moonrise” and “Thin Growing Thing,” where Versprille wails, “Do you want to take it higher?,” as if in homage to Steve Winwood's 1986 hit “Higher Love.” At its best, Night Pass flaunts the sounds that might have embarrassed you in your dad's station wagon: the noodly electrified riffs of Fleetwood Mac's Tango in the Night or the earnest soulfulness of Peter Gabriel's So." The band toured with

and

American Football (band) American Football (sometimes stylised in all lowercase as american football or americ anfootball) is an American rock band from Urbana, Illinois, originally active from 1997 until 2000, and again beginning with 2014 and onwards. The band was for ...

in support of the record later that year. On July 3, 2020 the band released the ''Carrido'', an EP created in honor of Richard Swift. "Dream the Dare" from the band's album ''Moon Tides'' was featured on the NBA2K21 Current Generation Soundtrack.

Members

*Sarah Versprille – keyboards, vocals *Daniel Hindman – guitar, bass, keyboards ''Touring personnel'' *Zach Tillman – bass, keyboards *Justin Chase – keyboards *Christopher Icasiano – drums ''Past Members'' *Brian Wright – drums

Discography

*''Pure Bathing Culture'' (

Memphis Industries Memphis Industries is a British independent record label. Memphis Industries was established as a record label in 1998 by the brothers Ollie and Matt Jacob with the first release being Blue States' Forever EP. It is perhaps best known for The ...

, 2012) *''Moon Tides'' (Partisan Records, 2013) *''Pray for Rain'' (Partisan Records, 2015) *''Night Pass'' (Infinite Companion, 2019) *''Carrido'' (Infinite Companion, 2020) *''Hats'' (Better Company, 2020) (cover Album of

The Blue Nile The Blue Nile was a Scottish band which originated in Glasgow. The group's early music was built heavily on synthesizers and electronic instrumentation and percussion, although later works featured guitar more prominently. Following early champ ...

Hats A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

)

References

External links

Official website
Indie rock musical groups from Oregon Musical groups from Portland, Oregon Father/Daughter Records artists Memphis Industries artists {{US-band-stub