The Broken West was an American

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...

band, formed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 2004, and later signed to

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

. The members are Ross Flournoy (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

), Dan Iead (guitar, backing vocals), Brian Whelan ( bass, backing vocals), Rob McCorkindale (drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

), and Scott Claassen (

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

, backing vocals). Drummer Rob McCorkindale was later replaced by Sean McDonald. Jeff Howell (Dan Iead's high school friend from Connecticut) joined the Broken West as their touring keyboardist, playing synth, organ and piano.

History

Initially called "The Brokedown," the group changed their name in 2006 because of legal concerns with a Chicago band with a similar name. Their debut full-length release is ''I Can't Go On, I'll Go On'', referencing a Samuel Beckett quote. Their single "Down in the Valley" was featured in an episode of ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

''. They have played the

Austin City Limits Music Festival The Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends. Inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series of the same name, the festival is produced by Austin-based ...

, and toured the U.S. and Canada with

Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne was an American rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young. They released five albums from 1996 to 2011 before effec ...

and with The National. None of the band members are originally from Los Angeles. Frontman Ross Flournoy was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

and moved with his family to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

when he was 11 years old. His musical pleasures growing up included

Big Star Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton (vocals, guiar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). The group broke up in early 1975, and reorganized with a new l ...

Teenage Fanclub Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), all of whom shared ...

, and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. Dan Iead and Jeff Howell grew up in Branford, CT. Brian Whelan split time between Seattle and Northern California. The band's second album ''Now or Heaven'' was released in 2008 through

. The band has broken up and Ross Flournoy released his first record as Apex Manor on January 25, 2011, also on

. The band's song "Perfect Games", and other songs, has been used as background music for local forecast segments on

the Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...

in 2012 and 2013.

Discography

* 2005: ''The Dutchman's Gold'' EP (as ''The Brokedown'') * 2007: ''I Can't Go On, I'll Go On'' * 2008: ''Now or Heaven''

Notes

References

* Dye, David
"The Broken West: Indie-pop's new face (and name)"

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, January 22, 2007. * Katzif, Michael
"A power-pop gem with a hint of turmoil"

, February 2, 2007. * Dye, David
"The Broken West: catchy hooks, sweet harmonies"

, May 2, 2007. * Deusner, Stephen
Pitchfork record review

Pitchfork Media ''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 ...

, February 1, 2007. * Wenzel, John
"Concerts in review: The Broken West"
''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'', May 25, 2007. * Perler, Elie Z
"Artist of the Day: The Broken West"
''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'', January 17, 2007. * Perry, Jonathan
"Love of LA powers the pop of The Broken West debut"
''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', March 2, 2007. * Totale, Todd
"Broken West's Ross Flournoy Interview"

Glorious Noise Glorious may refer to: Music * Glorious (music group), a French Christian rock and worship band Albums * ''Glorious'' (Arty album) or the title song, 2015 * ''Glorious'' (Bonfire album), 2015 * ''Glorious'' (Foxes album) or the title song (see ...

, September 8, 2008.

External links

The Broken West
at Merge Records
The Broken West Blog
at

Blogger A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broken West, The Indie rock musical groups from California Red Rockets Glare artists Merge Records artists