Velocity Girl was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band formed in 1989 in

College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located approximately from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. Its population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the home of the University of Mary ...

, and active in the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, area. The band released three albums before splitting up in 1996. The band reunited for a one-off concert in 2002 and for a few concerts in 2023 and 2024.

History

1989–1996: Formation and initial run

The band started as the duo of Kelly Young (formerly Riles) and guitarist/singer Archie Moore (ex- Black Tambourine) in 1989 (the two having met at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

), initially going by the name the Gotterdammacrats. They became Velocity Girl with the addition of Brian Nelson (ex-Black Tambourine, Whorl), Jim Spellman (of High Back Chairs), and lead singer Bridget Cross (soon to join Unrest).Bonner, Michael (1993) "Velocity Girl: Cop This", ''Lime Lizard'', May 1993, p. 74 The band took its name from a

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...

B-side which appeared on the ''

C86 ''C86'' is a Audio cassette, cassette compilation released by the British music magazine ''NME'' in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, ''C86'' quickly evolved into shorthand for a g ...

'' compilation album. Sarah Shannon replaced Cross after the release of the band's debut single, "I Don't Care If You Go." Unlike some 1990s rock music that featured an abrasive vocal and instrumental style, Velocity Girl's sound, especially post-1993, was more melodic and typically featured "clean" (non-distorted) electric guitar sounds and two-part harmonies. The band described their influences as "the Rough Trade and Postcard labels and some of the early Creation bands", as well as

the Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, by members of The Lost Pandas. The band has been led by vocalist and guitarist David Gedge, the band's only constant member. Closely linked to the C86 scene ...

. However, on their first seven-inch records on Slumberland and Merge, as well as their first Sub Pop album, ''Copacetic'', Velocity Girl were noted for their

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

influences. The band was noted for its love of releasing a steady stream of 7-inch vinyl singles. Slumberland Records was formed in 1989 by members of several D.C.-area bands, including Velocity Girl. Velocity Girl's songs often featured female/male vocals, sometimes simultaneously, with Archie Moore providing the male vocals. Velocity Girl toured frequently, releasing three full-length recordings on the

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent 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 (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

label. Music videos were released for "Crazy Town," (1993),"Audrey's Eyes," (directed by

Phil Harder Philip Harder (born 1965) is an American music video director and commercial director represented by Bob Industries in Santa Monica, California. Phil was also a director at Quentin Tarantino's A Band Apart Commercials and Music Videos where he d ...

) (1993) "Sorry Again," (1994) "I Can't Stop Smiling," (directed by

Spike Jonze Adam Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze (), is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes films, commercials, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze ...

) (1994) and "Nothing" (1996). The group disbanded in late 1996 after playing their last show "The Buzz Bakesale" in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

. Shannon, Riles and Spellman reunited in a short-lived project called Starry Eyes, releasing one EP in 1998.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 1050 Moore had already formed Heartworms before Velocity Girl split up, and later formed The Saturday People with Terry Banks of Tree Fort Angst.

Since 2002: Subsequent activity and reunions

Sarah Shannon went on to release her self-titled album in 2002. There was one Velocity Girl reunion show played at the

Black Cat A black cat is a Cat, domestic cat with black fur. They may be a specific Purebred, breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular or mixed breed. Most black cats have golden iris (anatomy), irises due to their high melanin pigment content. Bl ...

in Washington, DC on June 9, 2002. Jim Spellman, now a

CGTN China Global Television Network (CGTN) is one of three branches of state-run China Media Group and the international division of China Central Television (CCTV). Headquartered in Beijing, CGTN broadcasts news in multiple languages. CGTN is un ...

correspondent, went on to play guitar in the

–based power-pop bands Julie Ocean and Foxhall Stacks. Velocity Girl performed a reunion concert in Washington D.C. for the Black Cat's 30th anniversary celebration on September 9, 2023. A second concert followed at the

Bowery Ballroom The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in Manhattan's Bowery neighborhood. The venue has enjoyed a fabled reputation among musicians as well as audiences. In 2013, industry insiders polled by ''Roll ...

in New York City on September 30, 2023. After the success of the Black Cat anniversary show, Velocity Girl performed two more shows at the Black Cat in December 2023, with the recently reunited Tuscadero opening. In September 2023, the band announced they had remixed their debut album ''Copacetic'' to better suit how they want the album to sound. In that process, they discovered old recordings with alternate takes, covers, and unreleased material, which the band is reworking for release to streaming services. ''UltraCopacetic'' (''Copacetic Remixed and Expanded'') was released by Sub Pop on August 16, 2024.

Band members

* Archie Moore – guitar, bass, vocals * Brian Nelson – guitar * Kelly Young (formerly Riles) – guitar, bass * Sarah Shannon – vocals * Jim Spellman – drums * Bridget Cross – vocals (1989–1990)

Discography

Albums

* '' Copacetic'' (1993,

) * '' ¡Simpatico!'' (1994, Sub Pop) * '' Gilded Stars and Zealous Hearts'' (1996, Sub Pop)

Singles & EPs

* "I Don't Care If You Go" b/w "Always" (1990,

Slumberland Records Slumberland Records is an American independent record label, formed in 1989 in Washington, D.C., and based in Oakland, California. The label has released recordings by Velocity Girl, Honeybunch, Lilys, Stereolab, Evans The Death, St. Christo ...

/Summershine) * "My Forgotten Favorite" b/w "Why Should I Be Nice To You?" (1991, Slumberland Records) * "Crazy Town" b/w "Creepy" (1992, Sub Pop) * Split with Tsunami (1992, Sub Pop) * '' Velocity Girl'' (1993, Slumberland Records) * "Audrey's Eyes" b/w "Stupid Thing" (1993, Sub Pop) * ''Sorry Again'' (1994, Sub Pop) * "Sorry Again" b/w "Marzipan" (1994, Sub Pop) * "I Can't Stop Smiling" b/w "Marzipan" (1994, Sub Pop) * "Your Silent Face" b/w "You're So Good To Me" (1994,

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

) * "

Seven Seas "The Seven Seas" is a figurative term for all the seas of the known world. The phrase is used in reference to sailors and pirates in the arts and popular culture and can be associated with the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Seven Seas east of Af ...

" b/w "Breaking Lines" (1995, Heaven Records) * "Nothing" b/w "Anatomy Of A Gutless Wonder" (1996, Sub Pop) * Split with

Chisel A chisel is a hand tool with a characteristic Wedge, wedge-shaped cutting edge on the end of its blade. A chisel is useful for carving or cutting a hard material such as woodworking, wood, lapidary, stone, or metalworking, metal. Using a chi ...

(1996, Shute Records) * ''Setting the Night on Fire with Rock and Roll'' (2023, self-released)

Compilation appearances

* "Clock" on ''What Kind Of Heaven Do You Want?'' (1989, Slumberland Records) * "Blackzilla (live)" on ''Pre-Moon Syndrome Post-Summer Of Noise'' (1990,

Simple Machines Simple Machines was an American independent record label in Arlington, Virginia. The label was founded by Derek Denckla and Jenny Toomey and Brad Sigal while both were living in the Positive Force House in north Arlington, but Sigal and even ...

) * "My Forgotten Favorite" on ''One Last Kiss'' (1991,

SpinART Records SpinART Records was a New York City-based independent record label that released recordings by The Apples in Stereo, Clem Snide, Black Francis, Frank Black, and Michael Penn. The label was started by Joel Morowitz and Jeff Price in 1991. SpinART ...

) * "What You Say" on ''Screw'' (1991, Simple Machines) * "Tales Of Brave Aphrodite" on ''Fortune Cookie Prize: A Tribute To Beat Happening'' (1991, Simple Machines) * "Crawl" on ''Sassy'' (1992, Sub Pop) * "Forgotten Favorite" on ''...One Last Kiss'' (1992, spinART Records) * "Tales of Brave Aphrodite" on ''Fortune Cookie Prize'' (1992, Simple Machines) * "Merry Christmas, I Love You" on ''Season's Greetings'' 7-inch (1992, Simple Machines) * "Crazy Town" on ''Spin This 2'' (1992,

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

) * "I Don't Care If You Go" on DC Space R.I.P. (1992, Playhouse Productions) * "What You Say" on '' The Machines: 1990–1993'' comp. (1993, Simple Machines) * "Not At All" on ''Teenbeat 50'' (1993,

Matador A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activ ...

/ TeenBeat) * "Crazy Town" on ''Say "Hello" To The Far East'' (1993, Sub Pop) * "Audrey's Eyes" on ''Sub Pop Video Network Program II'' (1993, Sub Pop) * "Creepy" on ''Lime Lizard'' (1993, Lime Lizard) * "Here Comes", "Always" and "Crazy Town" on ''

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

Sub Pop Sessions'' (1994, Sub Pop) *"Sorry Again" on CMJ New Music Monthly, Volume 13 (1994,

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

) *"I Don't Care If You Go" on ''Tomorrow's Hits Today'' (1994, Summershine) *"I Can't Stop Smiling" on ''Music Matters Volume 6'' (1994, Details) *"What You" on ''Echos of the Nation's Capital #2'' (1994, Third World Underground) *"I Can't Stop Smiling" on ''Life Is Too Short For Boring Music Vol. V'' (1994, EFA) *"Sorry Again" on ''The Album Network's VirtuallyAlternative 47'' (1994, The Album Network) *"I Can't Stop Smiling" on ''Sub Pop Video Network Program 3'' (1995, Sub Pop) * "My Forgotten Favorite" on ''

Clueless ''Clueless'' is a 1995 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling. It stars Alicia Silverstone, and was produced by Scott Rudin and Robert Lawrence. The film is a loose adaptation of Jane Austen's 1815 no ...

'' soundtrack (1995,

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

) * "Finest Hour" on ''That Virtua Feeling: Sub Pop And Sega Get Together'' (1995, Sub Pop) * "Same Old City" on ''Golden Jam: General Mills' Golden Grahams'' (1996,

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

) * "Audrey's Eyes" on ''Sub Pop Sampler - A Fine Selection of Titles Distributed by Warner Music Canada'' (1996, Sub Pop) * "Nothing" on ''February 96'' (1996, Virtuallyalternative) * "Nothing" on ''B.L.A.S.T. Modern Rock Program #16'' (1996, S.I.N.) * "Nothing" on ''Next Magazine 006'' (1996, Next Magazine) * "I Can't Stop Smiling" on ''Poptopia! Power Pop Classics of the '90s'' (1997,

Rhino A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

) Poptopia! Power Pop Classics of the '90s (AllMusic)/ref> * "Sorry Again" on ''Street Mix - Music From Volkswagen Commercials (Volume 1)'' (2001, Rock River/

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

) * "It's All Right By Me" on ''Flirt'' (MP3-only release, 2003) * "You're So Good To Me" on ''SCORE! Twenty Years of Merge Records'' (2009, Merge Records) * "Seven Seas" on ''Noise and Fury'' (2011, Pit Pony) * "I Don't Care If You Go" on ''Still In A Dream: A Story of Shoegaze 1988-1995'' (2016, Cherry Red)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Velocity Girl Indie rock musical groups from Maryland Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Sub Pop artists Slumberland Records artists