Vitreous Humor was an American alternative rock band formed in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

, in the late 1980s by Danny Pound, Brad Allen, and Dan Benson. Described by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

as "not easily categorized", the band was often referred to as "

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

History

Originally a quartet, the band had a revolving door of

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

s until in 1993, Allen opted to play the bass. The group stayed as a trio for a year until the band took in Brooks Rice as their bassist, allowing Allen to return to his role of guitarist. Their sound was an angular, noisy take on indie rock, often juxtaposing clean, jangly chords and minimal guitar lines with dissonant, distorted power chords, much in the vein of

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 ...

. The band's first release was a self-titled 7-inch record, with three songs. Consequently, this was Crank! Records' first release as well. They also released a split 7-inch, sharing their song "Why Are You So Mean To Me?" (which was covered by the band

Nada Surf Nada Surf is a New York City-based American alternative rock band formed in the 1990s, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals). History 199 ...

) with fellow Crank! band

Boys Life ''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas. ''Scout Life'' is publ ...

and their song "Temporary". Their closest thing to a full-length release while they were still together is a self-titled EP, recorded with producer

Bob Weston Bob Weston (born 1965) is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason AnkenyAnkeny, Jason. " Bob Weston: Overview from Allmusic.com declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over th ...

and released in 1995. The strength of this EP granted the band a lot of publicity, and tours with

Archers of Loaf Archers of Loaf is an American indie rock band originally formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1991. The group toured extensively and released four studio albums, one compilation, numerous singles and EPs, and a live album which was release ...

Urge Overkill Urge Overkill is an American alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois, United States, consisting of Nathan Kaatrud, who took the stage name Nash Kato (vocals/guitar), and Eddie "King" Roeser (vocals/guitar/bass guitar). They are widely ...

and Everclear, while the band was hounded with contracts from

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

and

Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...

. During this period the band recorded several tracks with Dave Trumfio in Chicago and released a 2 song 45 EP on Mute Records, which barely saw the light of day. The song "My Midget" from this session eventually made it to the band's final album, "Posthumous". Eventually, the stress of touring got to the band, culminating in lead singer Danny Pound puncturing his left lung twice. The band broke up shortly afterward in 1996. The members of Vitreous Humor would reunite not long after the original band broke up (minus Brooks Rice) and formed The Regrets, who took the band's previous focus on clean-but-angular guitars and pushed it, as they could no longer be as noisy as they were when Brooks Rice was in the band. Eventually the band reunited again as Vitreous Humor with Rice back in the fold; the band released one more album in 1998- the odds-and-sods "Posthumous". Danny Pound continues to make music as a solo artist as The Danny Pound Band.MySpace.com - The Danny Pound Band - LAWRENCE, KANSAS - Rock / Folk Rock / Acoustique - www.myspace.com/thedannypoundband
/ref> Dan Benson from Vitreous Humor/The Regrets played drums for the band, but left and was replaced by Ken Pingleton.

Discography

Splits and EPs

* ''Vitreous Humor'' (EP, 1994, Crank! Records) *''Boys Life/Vitreous Humor'' (split 7-inch with

, 1994, Crank! Records) * ''Vitreous Humor'' (EP, 1995, Crank! Records)

Albums

* ''Posthumous'' (1998, Crank! Records) * ''Posthumous'' - Reissued with Bonus Tracks (2021, Ernest Jenning Record Co)

References

External links

* AllMusic entry on Vitreous Humor {{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from Kansas American post-hardcore musical groups