Tullycraft 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

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, that formed in 1995. They have been associated with the genre of

twee pop Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from the 1986 ''NME'' compilation ''C86''. Characterised by its simplicity and perceived innocence, some of its defining features are boy–girl harmonies, catchy melodies, and lyrics about love ...

; in fact, they are considered to be one of the true pioneers of the American twee pop movement. They are known for their

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

ethic, only releasing albums on independently owned and operated record labels.

History

Formation and early recordings

The band's original line-up was Sean Tollefson (bass/vocals), Gary Miklusek (guitar/vocals), and Jeff Fell (drums). Prior to forming Tullycraft, both Tollefson and Fell played in the band

Crayon A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax an ...

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...

and Miklusek played in the band Wimp Factor 14 in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. They met each other while their respective bands were on tour together. On February 28, 1995, Tullycraft played their first show at ReBar, a small club in Seattle. Joining them on the bill that evening was the band Incredible Force of Junior. Eventually, Chris Munford (from Incredible Force of Junior) would join the group. In October 1995 the band recorded four songs with producer Pat Maley at Yoyo Studios in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

. The recording session produced a debut single released on Harriet Records and an instant indiepop classic "Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid To Know About". This song was listed as essential listening in ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

''s 2005 article on Twee Pop entitled "Twee as Fuck."

Albums

''Old Traditions, New Standards''

In 1996 the band released their full-length debut, '' Old Traditions, New Standards'' on Harriet Records. The album included the singles "Superboy & Supergirl" and "Josie". In 2022, ''Old Traditions, New Standards'' was included on ''

''s list of ''The 25 Best Indie Pop Albums of the '90s''. The following year the band released a series of 7" singles on labels in Japan, England, Germany, and the U.S. They built up a large following by touring extensively all over the United States.

''City of Subarus''

Chris Munford officially joined Tullycraft in 1998 after a few guest appearances with the group. Munford contributed keyboards, guitar and recording engineer to the band's second full-length album, '' City of Subarus'', released on Cher Doll Records that same year. The entire album was recorded in a house that Munford, Miklusek and Fell rented near the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in Seattle. Sean wrote about the experience of making this album on the band'
website

''The Singles''

Guitarist and founding member, Gary Miklusek decided to leave the group after a U.S. tour for the ''City of Subarus'' album. His last appearance with the band was at the San Francisco Popfest in 1999. After the departure of Miklusek, the band's future was unclear. During the break a twenty-two track singles, b-sides and rarities compilation simply titled ''The Singles'' was released on

Darla Records Darla Records is an independent record label founded by James Agren in October 1993 while he was in New York. Darla's first release was a 7-inch by Grifters, an indie rock/lo-fi band from Memphis. Background The music of the artists on the ...

in late 1999.

''Beat Surf Fun''

Following a hiatus that lasted most of 2000, the band started the writing process for what would become their third full-length album, ''Beat Surf Fun''. Recording commenced in 2001 at a rehearsal space in

Ballard, Washington Ballard is a neighborhood in the northwestern area of Seattle, Washington, United States. Formerly an independent city, the City of Seattle's official boundaries define it as bounded to the north by Crown Hill (N.W. 85th Street), to the east by ...

. Harold Hollingsworth was recruited to take over lead guitar duties. Hollingsworth had played with the band briefly in 1997 on a U.S. tour. The third album, '' Beat Surf Fun'' was released on Magic Marker Records in 2002. The album included the singles "Wild Bikini" and "Twee". In 2003, Tullycraft played shows in England, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands in support of the ''Beat Surf Fun'' album.

''Disenchanted Hearts Unite''

In 2004, the band began working on what would be their fourth full-length album, '' Disenchanted Hearts Unite''. Just prior to the album's release, guitarist Harold Hollingsworth left the band. On May 3, 2005 '' Disenchanted Hearts Unite'' was released on Magic Marker Records. The band re-emerged with a new line-up that included Corianton Hale (lead guitar) and Jenny Mears (vocals). Some critics consider the album to be the band's finest. Although Tullycraft did not embark on a full U.S. tour to promote ''Disenchanted Hearts Unite'', they did play a number of universities, the occasional pop festival, and the

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

music festival in Austin, Texas in 2006 and 2007.

''Every Scene Needs a Center''

On October 23, 2007, the fifth full-length album, '' Every Scene Needs a Center'', was released on Magic Marker Records. The band spent over a year working on the album, splitting time between their own recording studio and Soundhouse Studio in Seattle, Washington. Described as a vampire indie-pop opera, the album included the singles "The Punks Are Writing Love Songs" and "Georgette Plays a Goth". In 2015 Magic Marker Records reissued ''Every Scene Needs a Center'' on limited edition vinyl.

''Lost in Light Rotation''

After a three-year hiatus the band began working on a new album during the summer of 2012. Recording began with Pete Remine at Dubtrain Studio in Seattle. The songs were mixed at Avast Recording Co. with producer

Phil Ek Phil Ek is an American record producer, engineer and mixer. Ek began his career in Seattle, Washington in the early 1990s recording live sound in clubs. He then moved into studio recording, recording small projects and demos for local bands. Aroun ...

. The result was the band's sixth album, ''

Lost in Light Rotation ''Lost in Light Rotation'' is the sixth studio album from indie pop band Tullycraft. After a three-year hiatus, the album was the band's first since ''Every Scene Needs a Center'' in 2007. All five band members (Tollefson, Fell, Munford, Mears ...

'' – the first Tullycraft full-length since 2007's ''Every Scene Needs a Center''. The album received some of the best press in the band's career. In January 2013

Fortuna Pop! Fortuna POP! was an English independent record label based in London, started in 1995 by Sean Price. It specialised in indie pop music. Fortuna POP! previously promoted gigs under the banner of The Beat Hotel and then Basement Scam at the Buffal ...

released a 7" of the title track, "

", as the first single from the forthcoming LP. The album was co-released in April 2013 by Magic Marker Records and

''The Railway Prince Hotel''

During the summer of 2017 Tullycraft regrouped and started recording what would become their seventh full-length studio album, The Railway Prince Hotel. As with their previous record, ''Lost in Light Rotation'', the album was recorded and engineered by Pete Remine at Dubtrain Studio in Seattle, WA. After the release of a video for the song "Passing Observations" in December 2018, ''The Railway Prince Hotel'' was released on

Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records is an American independent record label based in Athens, Georgia. Its catalogue features indie rock, indie pop and hip-hop music, with several of its artists associated with or influenced by The Elephant 6 Reco ...

on February 8, 2019.

Other

Live

After years of touring fairly consistently, in 2009 Tullycraft stopped playing live. On May 23, 2009, they performed in San Francisco, California. This was billed as the last show the band would play before taking a break from performing live. They have not played live in public since.

Film

In 2001, Tullycraft was featured alongside

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member J ...

Henry's Dress Henry's Dress was an American noise pop band from Albuquerque, New Mexico (and later from San Francisco, California), consisting of Amy Linton (later of The Aislers Set) and Matt Hartman, who both acted as singer, guitarist and drummer at various ...

Dub Narcotic Sound System Dub Narcotic Sound System (D.N.S.S.) is an Olympia, Washington based Indie (music), indie-funk musical group founded by Calvin Johnson (musician), Calvin Johnson, signed to K Records. Origins The band was named after Calvin Johnson (musician), C ...

Unwound Unwound is an American post-hardcore band. The band was formed in 1988 in Tumwater, Washington, Tumwater and Olympia, Washington by vocalist/guitartist Justin Trosper, bassist Vern Rumsey and drummer Brandt Sandeno, and was largely based in Olym ...

and The Make-Up in the Justin Mitchell music documentary, ''Songs for Cassavetes''. The song, ''"Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid To Know About"'' was used in the film's opening credits.

Television

The song, ''"The Punks are Writing Love Songs"'' appeared on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

series, ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...

'' November 23, 2010 (Season 2, Ep. 8 "On Tap") The song, ''"Superboy & Supergirl"'' appeared on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series, ''

The End of the F***ing World ''The End of the F***ing World'' is a British black comedy-drama television programme. The eight-part first series premiered its first episode on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 24 October 2017, after which the following episodes were release ...

'' January 5, 2018 (Season 1, Ep. 1)

Tribute albums

* In 2003 a 22-song tribute album titled, '' First String Teenage High: The Songs of Tullycraft Played By People Who Aren't'' was released on AAJ/Bumblebear Records. * In 2010 '' Wish I'd Kept A Scrapbook: A Tribute to Tullycraft'' was released on Unchikun Records. This second tribute album featured 21 bands and artists covering Tullycraft songs.

Radio Show

In 2020 Sean Tollefson and his wife Liz began hosting a weekly radio show in Seattle, WA called ''Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid to Know About''. The one hour show o
Space 101.1 FM
features indie pop bands and artists from around the world. An archive of all the past episodes is posted here
PopSongsMixTape

Members

* Sean Tollefson – Lead vocals and bass * Chris Munford – Guitar and vocals * Corianton Hale – Guitar and vocals * Jenny Mears – Vocals and tambourine

Discography

*Albums *Singles and EPs *Compilations

Bibliography

* Strong, M. C. (2003). ''The Great Indie Discography (2nd Edition)'' pg. 1041. Published by Canon Books Ltd. (US/CAN)

Sources

References

External links

Official website

* {{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from Washington (state) Indie pop groups from Washington (state) Musical groups from Seattle Musical groups established in 1995 Cuddlecore musicians Darla Records artists