Scrawl

Scrawl is an American indie rock band. The band were formed in Columbus, Ohio in 1985 by guitarist and vocalist Marcy Mays, bassist and backing vocalist Sue Harshe and drummer Carolyn O'Leary, from the ashes of Mays' previous band Skull; they adopted their current name after playing their first show together. The band has been described as a precursor to riot grrrl, though they do not consider themselves part of the movement.

In 1987, Scrawl released its debut album ''Plus, Also Too'', which earned the band a deal with Rough Trade Records. The band released two albums with the label, ''He's Drunk'' (1988) and ''Smallmouth'' (1990), before parting ways with the label. O'Leary left the band in 1992 and was replaced by Dana Marshall, who made his recording debut on '' Velvet Hammer'' (1993). The band moved to the major label Elektra Records for two albums, '' Travel On, Rider'' (1996) and ''Nature Film'' (1998), which were both underpromoted. Although they have not released any new material since ''Nature Film'', Scrawl have continued to tour with drummer Jovan Karcic, who joined in 2007.

History

Formation and Rough Trade Records (1985–1990)

Guitarist and vocalist Marcy Mays and bassist and backing vocalist Sue Harshe first met each other in 1984 whilst the latter visiting her boyfriend in Athens, Ohio, and quickly became friends. Both members had past experience playing in hardcore bands; at the time of meeting, Mays was in a band called Skull with bassist Jane Young and drummer Carla Sanseri, and Harshe in No Amerika! According to Harshe, they did not contribute to their bands' songwriting as they felt intimidated. When Mays relocated to Columbus in early 1985, she and Harshe both agreed they would write songs and be "masters of heirown domain". Around this time, Skull were offered an opening slot for the Butthole Surfers by show promoter and School Kids and No Other Records owner Curt Scheiber. Young was not interested, and Harshe subsequently joined the band as her replacement. Prior to a show opening for the Meat Puppets in August 1985, Skull changed its name to Scrawl and Sanseri was replaced by Carolyn O'Leary. According to Harshe, the band chose Scrawl because they thought that Skull "sound dtoo heavy metal", and because it rhymed with their former name. The band developed a following, and embarked on its first tour in 1986, performing in the cities of Lexington, Kentucky, Tallahassee and Jackson, Mississippi. Mays said that Scrawl did not expect themselves to be long-lived, telling the ''Chicago Tribune'' in 1990; "Everything for the next nine months fter the Meat Puppets showwas, 'Let's just do one more gig'. We never thought we'd be together one more month."

With the help of their friends, Scrawl recorded its debut album ''Plus Also Too'' in September 1986, for less than $500. The album was released through Scheiber's No Other Records label in May 1987, to positive reviews and media response. After Robert Christgau gave the album a favourable review in his "Consumer Guide" for ''The Village Voice'', Scrawl received offers from Homestead, Twin/Tone and Rough Trade Records. Following a performance for all three labels at CBGB in New York City—which Mays later recalled as "one of the worst" the band played—Scrawl signed to Rough Trade in the spring of 1988. The band then recorded their second album, ''He's Drunk'', at Paisely Park Studios in Minneapolis. Released in October 1988, the album had sold 4,000 copies by 1990. Following its release, Scrawl toured with Firehose; they continued to tour the United States in support of the album until March 1989. After a hiatus due to O'Leary breaking her arm, Scrawl recorded their third album ''Smallmouth'' with producer Gary Smith in November 1989. Following the album's release in February 1990, Scrawl embarked on a month-long tour of the United States before touring Europe for four weeks in May of that year. Following abortive negotiations with the label over their fourth album and the release of a four-song promotional extended play of covers recorded by Steve Albini, Scrawl parted ways with Rough Trade in the fall of 1990. The following year, the label declared bankruptcy, and Scrawl's back catalog subsequently went out of print. The band were forced to buy back their master tapes at public auction.

Simple Machines and ''Velvet Hammer'' (1991–1995)

In January and April 1991, the band recorded an extended play with Steve Albini, ''Bloodsucker''. According to Jason Ankey of AllMusic, the EP "is clearly informed by the group's troubled experiences in the music business"; the liner notes, in regards to its cover artwork, state that "any resemblance to music industry executives is purely coincidental." Released in October 1991 through Feel Good All Over Records, the EP quickly sold out of its first pressing of 2,000 copies. Although it suffered from poor distribution, ''Bloodsucker'' received strong reviews, and was ranked ninth on the 1991 Pazz & Jop poll for extended plays, tying with releases from Dinosaur Jr. and Prisonshake. Around the time of its release, the band played shows with the Afghan Whigs and My Bloody Valentine.

In May 1992, O'Leary left Scrawl. The following month, the band released the 7" single "Misery (Someone Is Winning) / Just Plain Bad", before embarking on the " Foxcore, My Ass" tour as an acoustic duo. By the end of 1992, the band had recruited Dana Marshall as their new drummer and signed with Simple Machines Records and Southern Records (for the UK). Harshe said that the band were no long worried about working with men again as they felt they had become better songwriters and performers. In January 1993, Scrawl worked with Albini again for the recording of '' Velvet Hammer'', which was released on November 8, 1993. According to Mays, much of the album is about isolation and being alone. In the fall of 1994, the band embarked on a tour of Europe and performed at the Reading Festival in the United Kingdom.

Elektra Records (1996–1999)

In 1996, Scrawl were signed to Elektra Records by A&R rep Terry Tolkin. The band released its major label debut, '' Travel On Rider'', in August 1996. The band toured the Northeastern US in October, prior to a supporting tour with Wilco in 1997. For their sixth album, ''Nature Film'' , Scrawl re-recorded six of their Rough Trade-era songs and a cover of Public Image Ltd's " Public Image", alongside six new songs. Harshe said that the band wanted to re-record their old songs as they had changed and "become more fluid live" over the years, and because "the thought of giving lektra12 new songs seemed really depressing to us" due to the label's lacklustre promotion of ''Travel On, Rider''. Mays later said that the band "were basically saying 'fuck em' by not giving he labelanything new". The album was released in May 1998, and was supported by a tour supporting Mike Watt. Six weeks after its release, Elektra informed Scrawl via fax that they had dropped the band from its roster. In response, Scrawl launched a mailing campaign with its supporters and more than 250 people on its mailing list to send a postcard to label head Sylvia Rhone, featuring a copy of the fax from Elektra on one side and the following message for a sender to tick off and sign on the other:

Elektra has dropped Scrawl. I am: 1) Disgusted; 2) Relieved; 3) Out of the Closet; 4) Other

In an 1998 interview with '' CMJ New Music Report'', Harshe said that they were not surprised about being dropped from Elektra due to the minimal support for both ''Travel On, Rider'' and ''Nature Film'', claiming that the label "never sent out anything other than advance CDs" and that both releases had sold less copies than their independent albums, although she did not feel bitter towards them. As of August 1998, the former had sold 2,115 copies, whilst the latter had sold only 956 copies. David Martin of the ''Cleveland Scene'' associated Scrawl with the "Columbus Curse" of bands from the city that were "wooed, signed, and tossed aside like chew toys by major labels", including Royal Crescent Mob, the Toll and Watershed. A planned tour of the west coast of the United States with the Spinanes, due to commence in October 1998, was cancelled after Mays broke her collarbone, which also hindered the band's plans to work on new material. The band resumed touring in 1999.

Subsequent activities (2000–present)

On March 16, 2000, Scrawl played their final show with Dana Marshall, who relocated to Sweden thereafter. In early 2001, Scrawl played a few shows as a duo, with Mays and Harshe handling keyboards in the absence of a drummer. In 2007, Scrawl reunited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Little Brother club in Columbus, with Jovan Karcic, formerly the guitarist of fellow Columbus band Gaunt, joining as their new drummer. That same year, Harshe formed a new band, Fort Shame. The band has continued to tour and perform since then.

In a 2023 interview with ''Matter News'', Mays revealed that Scrawl had begun producing new instrumentals together since the summer with the intention of finally releasing a new album, though said they have no deadlines. In 2024, the band performed at DromFest '24 in Catskill, New York.

Musical style and influences

Scrawl have been described as indie rock and post-punk. The band's first two albums, ''Plus, Also, Too'' and ''He's Drunk'', were described as indie pop. Gregory McGovern of ''Hot Press'' described the band's style as "minimalist rock ‘n' roll". The band's musical influences include Cheap Trick, Paula Abdul, Head East, Judas Priest, the Meat Puppets, the Roches and Wire. In an 1995 interview with ''The Michigan Daily'', Harshe highlighted Mays' background in country and western music and her own interest in 1970s pop music as elements she thought came through in Scrawl's music.

Legacy

According to Jason Ankey of AllMusic, Scrawl "carved out their own tough-minded yet feminine niche within the underground community" prior to the riot grrrl movement and subsequent "widespread emergence of female artists in the male-dominated world of indie rock". In 1992, Cathy Hainer of ''USA Today'' wrote that the band "have been called 'the spiritual grandmothers' of the girl-grunge movement", whilst in 1993, Caroline Sullivan of ''The Guardian'' called them the "founding mothers" of the riot grrrl movement. In a 2009 listicle covering the "100 Greatest Bands You've (Probably) Never Heard" for '' Spin'', Chuck Eddy described Scrawl as "ahead of its time" and "the lone antidote to guitar-rock Guyville" in the late 1980s before the appearance of riot grrrl. In ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Colin Larkin wrote that although Scrawl were "deeply suspicious" of their associations with riot grrrl by a "trend-obsessed media"—as suggested by their 1992 "Foxcore, My Ass" tour—"many of the musicians involved in hemovement openly acknowledged their debt to the group's late 80's recordings." Kathleen Hanna cited Scrawl as an influence on her music, whilst Tsumani guitarist Jenny Toomey called them an "enormous influence on what we did and how we did it."

In an 1993 interview with ''Hot Press'', Harshe said of riot grrrl: "I think that tis good for young women. We crawlcertainly don't really have an alignment with them. Partly because we are older and we started out a long time ago. And so it really doesn't hold anything for us." In an interview with ''Melody Maker'' that same year, Harshe stated that she felt the "frenzy" of "Angry Women in Rock" articles by outlets such as ''The New York Times'' and ''Rolling Stone''—which grouped Scrawl with Babes in Toyland, L7, Bikini Kill and Courtney Love—"was a great way of making all these bands lose their individuality". In a 1999 interview with the ''Cleveland Scene'', she called the band's association to the movement "very bizarre" and "a joke". In a 2014 interview, Mays said: "There was nothing intentionally feminist about crawl'smusic, but we were leading feminist lives by doing what we wanted to do and not really paying attention to what people wanted us to do. And that's definitely reflected in the music."

Band members

Current line-up
* Marcy Mays - vocals, guitar (1985–present)
* Sue Harshe - bass, vocals (1985–present)
* Jovan Karcic - drums (2007–present)
Past members
* Carla Sanseri - drums (1985)
* Carolyn O'Leary - drums (1985–1992)
* Dana Marshall - drums (1992–2000)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Split releases

Singles

References

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Further reading

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External links

Sue Harshe's MySpace page

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American all-female bands
Musical groups from Columbus, Ohio
Proto-riot grrrl bands
Musical groups established in 1985
Elektra Records artists
Rough Trade Records artists