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 a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band from

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, that formed in 1995. They were an early part of the American

twee pop Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from the 1986 ''NME'' compilation '' C86''. Twee pop gets its name from the aesthetic of twee, which is known for its simplicity and childlike innocence. Some of its defining features are boy-gi ...

movement. They are known for their DIY 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 (material), binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a ...

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

and Miklusek played in the band Wimp Factor 14 in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. 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 Yoyo A Go Go, usually abbreviated to Yoyo and often typeset in various ways, was an independent music festival in Olympia, Washington, first held in 1994 and followed by successor festivals in 1997, 1999, and 2001. Five- and six-day concert mara ...

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

. 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 or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

''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 ''Old Traditions, New Standards'' is the debut album from the Washington-based indiepop band Tullycraft. In 2022, ''Old Traditions, New Standards'' was included on ''Pitchfork''s list of ''The 25 Best Indie Pop Albums of the '90s''. The albu ...

'' 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-inch 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 ''City of Subarus'' is the second album from the indie pop band Tullycraft. Chris Munford from the band Incredible Force of Junior joined Tullycraft prior to the recording of this album, making the three piece a foursome. On this sophomore rele ...

'', 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 and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

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 (state), New York. Darla's first release was a 7-inch by Grifters (band), Grifters, an indie rock/lo-fi music, lo-fi band from Memphis. ...

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 List of neighborhoods in Seattle, neighborhood in northwestern Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Formerly an independent city, the Government and politics of Seattle, City of Seattle's official boundaries defi ...

. 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 ''Beat Surf Fun'' is the third studio album from the indiepop band Tullycraft. The entire album was recorded on analog tape at a practice space the band rented in Ballard, WA. It is the first record the band released on the Portland-based M ...

'' 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 ''Disenchanted Hearts Unite'' is the fourth studio album from the indiepop band Tullycraft. The band recorded half of the album at Soundhouse Studios in Seattle, and the other half in guitarist, Chris Munford's living room. Jenny Mears prov ...

''. Just prior to the album's release, guitarist Harold Hollingsworth left the band. On May 3, 2005 ''

'' 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 (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

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 ''Every Scene Needs a Center'' is the fifth studio album from the indiepop band Tullycraft. Arguably, the band’s most ambitious album, ''Every Scene Needs A Center'' ranges from punky bursts to mid-tempo near-ballads. The band spent over a ...

'', 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. Aro ...

. The result was the band's sixth album, '' Lost in Light Rotation'' – 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 music, 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 ...

released a 7-inch 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.

On October 15, 2024, Tullycraft reunited to play their first show in over 15 years. They performed with the UK bands, Swansea Sound and Heavenly at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle, Washington.

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 lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member Janet We ...

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 variou ...

Dub Narcotic Sound System Dub Narcotic Sound System (D.N.S.S.) is an Olympia, Washington based indie-funk musical group founded by Calvin Johnson, signed to K Records. Origins The band was named after Calvin Johnson's basement recording studio, Dub Narcotic. The band a ...

Unwound Unwound () is an American post-hardcore band formed in 1988 in Tumwater and Olympia, Washington. It presently consists of vocalist-guitarist Justin Trosper, bassist Jared Warren, drummer Sara Lund, and guitarist Scott Seckington. Originally ...

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 (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

series, ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal 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 is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series, '' The End of the F***ing World'' 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 (no longer playing bass live as of 2024) * Chris Munford – Guitar and vocals * Corianton Hale – Guitar, melodica, and vocals * Jenny Mears – Vocals and tambourine * Ethan Jones – Bass and vocals (as of 2024) * Jackson Long – Drums (as of 2024)

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 1995 establishments in Washington (state)