Red Sparowes is an American, Los Angeles-based

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

band, comprising current and former members of

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

Marriages Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

, The Nocturnes, Halifax Pier, Angel Hair and Pleasure Forever. Their sound is characteristic of

soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term was originally coined by Michael Southworth, and popularised by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, r ...

-influenced

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

, with an otherwise uncommon extensive use of a

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

History

Red Sparowes formed in 2003 as a side project for its members. They signed to

Neurot Recordings Neurot Recordings is an American independent record label founded by members of avant-garde metal band Neurosis in 1999. Gradually expanding, it has showcased a variety of artists including a number of sludge metal, post-rock, and noise bands. ...

Neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

' record label. They recorded some demos for their debut album, and this led to tours with

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan was an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of odd time sign ...

and

Made Out of Babies Made Out of Babies was a sludge metal band from Brooklyn, New York formed in 2004 that disbanded in 2012. Biography Drawing equally from noise rock bands such as The Jesus Lizard and post-metal bands such as Isis, the band developed a following ...

in 2004. The debut was recorded in May 2004 by engineer Desmond Shea, with the resulting sound in the vein of guitarists

Bryant Clifford Meyer Bryant Clifford Meyer (sometimes credited as Clifford Meyer, BC Meyer, Cliff Meyer or Bryant C Meyer) is a keyboardist, guitarist and vocalist, best known for his tenure with Los Angeles, California-based post-metal band Isis. He was with the ban ...

and

Jeff Caxide Jeff Caxide is an American bassist, best known for his time with post-metal band Isis, of which he was a founding member and present until its dissolution in 2010. He was also a founding member of Red Sparowes, but left after the release of thei ...

's band

, Chicago

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

outfit

Pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

, as well as bands as varied as

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

and

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

. Members

and Dana Berkowitz relocated in late 2004, thus forcing them out of the band. Red Sparowes' first studio album, ''

At the Soundless Dawn ''At the Soundless Dawn'' is Red Sparowes' 2005 debut release. It had a mixed reception upon release, enthusiastically welcomed by fans of the genre and of related bands such as Isis and Neurosis. Belgian record label Hypertension Records releas ...

'', was released in February 2005, following Clifford Meyer's Isis in their initial tours in support of ''

Panopticon The panopticon is a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be o ...

''. Shortly after this release, a split 12" album was released with

Gregor Samsa ''Metamorphosis'' (german: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, ''Metamorphosis'' tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himsel ...

. The Red Sparowes side contained the second track from ''At the Soundless Dawn'', "Buildings Began to Stretch Wide Across the Sky, And the Air Filled with a Reddish Glow," as well as a track recorded during the album's recording sessions with guitar by Michael Gallagher of Isis, initially only available on the Japanese release of the album. Following the release of the album, the band headlined a tour in Europe and participated in an American tour with

Big Business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly kn ...

and

Breather Resist Breather Resist was an American hardcore punk band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 2002 and dissolved in 2006. They take their name from the song “Breather Resist” by Hoover. History Breather Resist formed in 2002 and recorded 8 songs, ...

. After touring the band released their follow-up record, ''

Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun ''Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun'' is the second studio album by post-rock band Red Sparowes, released in September 2006. Despite having no lyrics, the album (by way of its song titles) follows the story of the Great Leap Forward in ...

'', in 2006. This release was followed by more touring of North America and Europe, including shows in the US with

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock music, rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its care ...

. In 2008 Josh Graham parted ways with the rest of the band to pursue musical project

A Storm of Light A Storm of Light is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 2008. They have been categorized as post-rock, post-metal, doom metal, sludge metal and hard rock, but have moved toward a darker and heavier metal sound. Rock-A-Rol ...

. In May 2008, Red Sparowes recorded new material with engineer Toshi Kasai (

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

, Big Business,

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

), and in August that year the EP

Aphorisms An aphorism (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often hand ...

was released digitally. Red Sparowes began recording their third full-length studio album with Kasai on August 24, 2009. The album, titled '' The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer'', was released on April 6, 2010. Red Sparowes had more or less been on an indefinite hiatus since late 2011, but in late September 2019, the band was announced to be playing at the 2020 edition of the

Roadburn Roadburn Festival is an international music festival held in Tilburg, Netherlands every April since 1999. It was set up as a spin-off from the Roadburn music blog founded by Jurgen van den Brand and Walter Hoeijmakers. Originally focused on stone ...

festival, as part of a lineup curated by guitarist

Emma Ruth Rundle Emma Ruth Rundle (born October 10, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and visual artist based in Portland, Oregon. Formerly of the Nocturnes and Marriages, she has released five solo albums and is a member of Red Sparowes. Early ...

; former

Baroness Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher th ...

drummer Allen Blickle and Brendan Tobin were returning to the band for the show. On March 24, 2020, the band announced via their official Facebook account that their show had been postponed, as many concerts and tours apart from them had been, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In the same post the band also confirmed that they were working on a new album.

Band members

Current *

(guitar) of

* Andy Arahood (guitar/bass) formerly of Angel Hair * Greg Burns (bass/pedal steel) of

& Halifax Pier * David Clifford (drums) of Pleasure Forever,

The VSS The VSS was an American rock band from Boulder, Colorado, United States. History The VSS formed in 1995 after the breakup of the hardcore group Angel Hair. Vocalist Sonny Kay and guitarist Josh Hughes had both played in Angel Hair; the rest of ...

(guitar) of

& The Nocturnes Former * Josh Graham (guitar) of

(visuals),

Battle of Mice Battle of Mice was an American post-metal supergroup consisting of Julie Christmas (Made Out of Babies), Josh Graham (ex-Neurosis, ex- Red Sparowes, A Storm of Light), Joel Hamilton ( Book of Knots), Tony Maimone (Book of Knots, Pere Ubu), a ...

(guitar/bass) of

* Dana Berkowitz (drums) * Brendan Tobin (guitar) of

Discography

Studio albums

Other works

References

External links

Red Sparowes

Red Sparowes' Myspace

Red Sparowes' Bandcamp
*
Red Sparowes collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive
Neurot Recordings

Robotic Empire

Sargent House
{{Authority control Musical groups from Los Angeles American post-rock groups American post-metal musical groups American instrumental musical groups Musical groups established in 2003