The Wrens were an American

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band from

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 Delawa ...

. The group consisted of Charles Bissell (guitar/vocals), brothers Greg Whelan (guitar/vocals) and Kevin Whelan (bass/vocals), and Jerry MacDonald (drums). They released three albums; a fourth album was recorded and mastered for a planned 2013 release, but was subsequently retracted. After reworking his contributions, Bissell teased a 2021 release for the new album, but the band broke up shortly after following disagreements over business arrangements. The band had a reputation for their intense live shows – following a gig at the

University of London Union Student Central was a students' facility of the University of London. It was previously the students' union of the federal University of London, known as the University of London Union (commonly referred to as ULU, pron. 'yoo-loo'), which was clo ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in March 2006, ''

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 ...

'' declared that "on this form the Wrens are surely one of the best live bands in the world".

History

Brothers Greg and Kevin Whelan formed their band in the late 1980s, recruiting former high school classmate Charles Bissell in 1989 as a guitarist for a proposed gig supporting

The Fixx The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include " One Thing Leads to Another", " Saved by Zero", " Are We Ourselves?", and " Secret Separation", each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot ...

, which was cancelled in the end. Jerry MacDonald replaced the band's original drummer in 1990 and the quartet moved into a house together in the town of

Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,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 Delawa ...

, to concentrate on their music career. After a number of name changes the group settled on the name Low, and in 1993 they recorded a

7-inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...

single with the same name which they sent out to various record companies – one of them,

Grass Records Wind-up Entertainment was an American independent record label founded by Alan and Diana Meltzer in 1997. It was based in New York City and was distributed by BMG Distribution. Wind-up's best-selling artists worldwide were Creed and Evanesce ...

, signed the band almost immediately on hearing the record. However, on learning that there was already a

slowcore Slowcore is a subgenre of alternative rock and indie rock. The music of slowcore artists is generally characterized by bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies, slower tempos and minimalist arrangements. Slowcore is often used interchangeably with the t ...

group named Low, the band changed their name to the Wrens in 1994. By 1996, the Wrens had released two full-length albums, ''

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

'' (1994) and ''

Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,Alan Meltzer, who wanted to refocus the label on scoring more mainstream popularity and hit songs. During their 1996 tour for ''Secaucus'' the band was offered a new long-term contract for over a million dollars, on condition that in the future they tailor their songs to a more radio-friendly sound. Fearing loss of independence and a watering down of their music, the band refused to sign the contract. As a result, they were not offered another record deal and all production and promotion of their previous two albums was stopped. Meltzer changed Grass Records' name to

Wind-Up Records Wind-up Entertainment was an American independent record label founded by Alan and Diana Meltzer in 1997. It was based in New York City and was distributed by BMG Distribution. Wind-up's best-selling artists worldwide were Creed and Evanescenc ...

, eventually scoring the mainstream success he sought with groups such as

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

and

Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut ...

. The Wrens battled for years afterwards to try to regain the rights to the albums in order to make them available again – in 2006 Wind-Up finally relented and re-released ''Silver'' and ''Secaucus'' on November 14 of that year, although the label retained the rights to the records. Following the termination of their contract with Grass Records, a six-track EP, ''Abbott 1135'', was released in 1997 on Ten23 Records (the label run by the people who had originally signed the Wrens to Grass Records). The same year a cassette titled ''Overnight Success'' was circulated, featuring early demo versions of songs that would appear on their third album, although to date this cassette has never been officially released. Despite spending more than a year in discussions with various major labels, notably

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner ...

, in order to secure a record contract, none of the talks resulted in a deal. With no contract and their financial lifeline cut off, the members of the Wrens took full-time jobs while they began work on their third album in 1999. By this point drummer MacDonald was married with a young family and had moved out, but the other three members were still living together in the same house in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, t ...

, where MacDonald would join them to record new material when he was able to. The problems with the record labels are usually cited as the reason for the slow progress on the album, although in a 2004 interview Charles Bissell conceded that a far bigger problem had been the combination of exhaustion,

writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...

and lack of confidence in the new material which caused them to extensively re-write or scrap many songs. It took four years before the record, titled '' The Meadowlands'', was finally completed in early 2003. The Wrens had received an offer a few years previously to release the album on

Drive-Thru Records Drive-Thru Records was a California-based independent record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. The label was partially responsible for popularizing the pop-punk/emo merger sound of the early to mid-2000s. After facing financi ...

, but decided instead to sign to

Absolutely Kosher Records Absolutely Kosher Records is an independent California-based record label founded in 1998 in San Francisco by Cory Brown. The label moved to Berkeley in 2002 and then to Emeryville in October 2006 when it partnered with Misra Records. The two ...

, run by their friend Cory Brown. The album was more varied than their first two records, containing longer and more downbeat songs than their previous records (a fact noted by several critics), dealing with the problems they had experienced with record labels and the concerns of a more grown-up band, such as family life and jobs. The album received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the music press, in publications such as

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

, ''

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 ...

'' and praise from critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

. The album was described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as a "nearly universally acclaimed disc of bright literate pop". It took a further two years before the album was released in Europe on LO-MAX Records and on the German BB*Island label, to similarly rave reviews. Despite the critical success of ''The Meadowlands'', the band were unable to start work quickly on a follow-up album due to financial and personal constraints: Bissell had left his job in advertising to earn his living as a guitar teacher but the other three members remain in full-time employment (the Whelan brothers work for a multinational pharmaceutical company in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and MacDonald works in the sales division of a financial services company in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

), and the band no longer had a single house where the members could demo ideas and record songs, as both Bissell and Greg Whelan had gotten married and moved out. In 2006, the Wrens recorded a cover of the song "They'll Need A Crane" for the tribute album ''Hello Radio: The Songs of

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a dr ...

''. The band also contributed a new song, "Crescent", to ''Dear New Orleans'', a 2010 benefit album released to raise funds and mark the fifth anniversary of the

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

disaster. On May 1, 2014, the Wrens' Twitter account said that the band had finished recording its fourth album. No release date was announced. In late November 2015, the band released an alternate version of a song from the album, "Three Types of Reading Ambiguity", which was made available to premium subscribers of '' Esopus Magazine''. The song was released on a limited edition audio cassette, which also included another version of the song performed by artist Beth Campbell. In a January 2021 interview with

Uproxx ''Uproxx'' (stylized in all caps) is an entertainment and popular culture news website. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater, and acquired by Woven Digital (later renamed Uproxx Media Group) in 2014. The site's target audience ...

, Bissell stated that the fourth album was finished in June 2019, and that the band had signed to an unspecified record label years earlier who would hopefully release the album in 2021. Bissell noted that "we had some band stuff to work out, to get everyone back on board again". On September 20, 2021, ''

'' reported that Kevin Whelan would be releasing some of his contributions to the unreleased fourth Wrens album under the name Aeon Station with support from Greg Whelan and Jerry MacDonald, and that Kevin Whelan and Bissell were no longer speaking. The report indicated that the fourth Wrens album had been completed, mastered, and given to

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are oft ...

for release in 2013 before being retracted at Bissell's request so he could further develop his songs. In 2019, Bissell completed his contributions, then approached the rest of the band seeking a new business arrangement that reflected both his work as a songwriter and his work maintaining the Wrens' presence online and in the music industry. Whelan said that he "was never against that, but when we started talking about how to do it, it got very drawn out and complicated” and that he was done waiting, which led to the creation of Aeon Station to release his songs. Bissell subsequently indicated "that the Wrens were dead" and that he was planning his own album to release his songs.

Aeon Station

Aeon Station’s debut album ''Observatory'', was released by Sub Pop Records on December 10, 2021. It was previewed by the singles "Queens", "Leaves" and "Fade".

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (

, 1994) *''

Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,The Meadowlands'' (

, 2003/LO-MAX Records/BB*Island, 2005)

Singles

*"Low" (Dow Boy Records (self-released), 1993) *"Napiers" (Grass Records, 1994) *"Life Stories from the Union" (Sonic Bubblegum Records, 1995) *"Rest Your Head" (Grass Records, 1996) *Split single with

Park Ave. Park Ave. was an indie pop band which started in January 1996 in Omaha, Nebraska. The band lasted only two and a half years, but still retains a substantial fanbase. During their short time together, Park Ave. (named after an actual street i ...

– The Wrens track: "Fireworks"/"James, I Wanna" (

Saddle Creek Records Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993 (as Lumberjack Records). Mogis soon turned over hi ...

, 1997) *"Hopeless" (digital download only, LO-MAX Records, 2006) *"Pulled Fences" (Absolutely Kosher Records, 2009)

EPs

*''Abbott 1135'' (Ten23 Records, 1997 – reissued on Absolutely Kosher Records, 2005) *Split EP with The Five Mod Four – The Wrens tracks: "Was There Ever", "Bus Dance", "45'er" (No Karma, 2002 – reissued on Contraphonic, 2005)

Self-released unofficial recordings

*''Overnight Success'' (self-released 10-track demo album, 1998) *''20 Years of Juvenilia'' EP (self-released limited-edition CD-R EP sold at their 20th anniversary shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey, December 2009) *''Three Types of Reading Ambiguity'' cassette (self-released limited edition audio cassette available to premium subscribers of Esopus Magazine, November 2015)

References

External links

The Wrens official website

The Wrens Myspace site

LO-MAX Records website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrens, The Indie rock musical groups from New Jersey Absolutely Kosher Records artists Musical groups established in 1994