Shrubs (American band)
Encyclopedia
History
Shrubs are an American rock ‘n roll band formed in 1994 in Rock Tavern, New York. The band members are Bob Torsello (bass), Rob Takleszyn (drums), Jay LoRubbio (guitar). They perform music a mix of garage/psych/punk/folk/pop that has been described as “garage pop fused with alien poetics.” They have released five full-length recordings and have toured extensively throughout the northeast. Their songs have been played on many college radio stations.Their first two releases, Pickled Children (1995) and Somebody’s Watching (1996) were issued by NOT Records on cassette tape only. A track from the former, Space Thrust, was featured on the first New Brunswick Underground compilation.
In early October 1995, Shrubs performed at the Tinker Street Café in Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...
(The Dave Matthews Band also performed on the same day [18 hours earlier, thus technically the opening band]
). The show was broadcast live on WDST
WDST
WDST is a radio station licensed to Woodstock, New York. The station is owned by CHET-5 Broadcasting and broadcasts with 3 kW ERP from a tower in the Town of Kingston.WDST also broadcasts one translator:...
. A live cassette, Deluge On Tinker Street, documenting the event was issued later that year.
Shrubs released their first CD-format recording, Zod, King of Spoons, in 1997. It featured artist Erik Wrobel on space guitar.
In 2001, the group completed their first UK tour which included shows at the Hope and Anchor, Islington
Hope and Anchor, Islington
The Hope and Anchor is a public house on Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. During the mid-1970s it was one of the first pubs to embrace the emergent, but brief, phenomenon of pub rock...
in London and at The Cavern Club in Liverpool. A CD that documents those shows, “Bangers & Mash – Live in the UK” was released in May 2001. It was debuted at a Patti Smith concert in New Haven CT
Their 2001 release, Misfits & Dreamers, is considered a ‘deep underground classic.’
. It features a guest appearance by Glenn Mercer
Glenn Mercer
Glenn Mercer is the vocalist and guitarist of the North Haledon, New Jersey-based rock band The Feelies. Together with Bill Million, Mercer wrote and produced virtually all of the Feelies' recorded output .-History:...
of The Feelies. Shrubs also cover The Feelies Find A Way. Jim Santo of Demo Universe described the CD this way:
“Shrubs' first album of new material since 1996 could have been recorded in 1966 or 1976 and not clashed with the landscaping, so timeless is Shrubs' proto-garage-punk sound. Unvarnished, unpretentious and utterly unsuited to cross-media synergy, Misfits And Dreamers stands fat and hairy against the oppressive onslaught of hyper-marketed mannequins. Viva Shrubs!”
In June 2007, Shrubs were invited to perform at the memorial concert for folk legend John Herald
John Herald
John Herald was an American folk and bluegrass songwriter, solo and studio musician, and one-time member of The Greenbriar Boys trio.-Biography:...
at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock.
Shrubs were invited by The Feelies
The Feelies
The Feelies are a rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008 and most recently released an album in 2011....
to open their reunion shows in 2008 and 2009 at The Bowery Ballroom (NYC), Music Hall of Williamsburg (Brooklyn), and 9:30 Club
9:30 Club
Foo Fighters Promise to come back to D.C. and play the 9:30 ClubNightclub 9:30 is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. Originally located at 930 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C., in the 1970s it was called the "Atlantis Club", and hosted primarily rock, New Wave, and punk bands...
(Washington DC).
They have also appeared with Wake Ooloo, Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
and Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams
Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams
Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams is a Hudson Valley New York based band, which was founded in Sleepy Hollow in 1998. The band's music is a form of Folk rock and is sometimes described as "Hillbilly Pink Floyd," or "Punk Classical Hillbilly Floyd." Their latest album, The Great...
.
The group appeared live on WFMU
WFMU
WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting at 91.1 MHz FM, presenting a freeform radio format...
’s Three Chord Monte program in November 2008.
A cover version of Bevis Frond’s Through The Hedge was recorded that day and appears on a 2010 tribute CD entitled "Are You Sitting Comfortably?".
In 2009, Shrubs recorded a new CD Forgotten How To Fall at Glenn Mercer's studio. Mercer co-produced, recorded, mixed and sequenced the record. He also contributed guitar, percussion and keyboards. Erik Wrobel has once again contributed the cover art. On October 24, 2009, the band celebrated its release at the Tuscan Cafe in Warwick NY with special guests Glenn Mercer and Dave Weckerman of The Feelies.
Joe Wawrzyniak, reviewing the CD for Jersey Beat, said this: "Representing pop-rock at its most infectiously bubbly, catchy, and upbeat, this album makes a sweet and strong impression just like a bright sparkling beam of sunshine piercing through some storm clouds in an otherwise gloomy sky."
Writing for the Chrongram, Jeremy Schwartz says of Forgotten How To Fall: "The 15 tracks cover a diversity of sound within the garage/psych-pop idiom. Part of the charm of the record is its unpretentious, everyman-rocking-out vibe, which, come to think of it, is one of the subtle pleasures of the original mid ’60s wave of amateurish garage punk."
Side projects
- Janet HamillJanet HamillJanet Hamill is an American poet and spoken word artist. Her poem "K-E-R-O-U-A-C" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her fifth collection, "Body of Water...
and Moving Star - A spoken-word group featuring Torsello and LoRubbio. Greg Feller and Evan Teatum are also members. The group has performed and recorded with Patti SmithPatti SmithPatricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, Lenny KayeLenny KayeLenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group.- Early life :...
, and David AmramDavid AmramDavid Amram is an American composer, musician, conductor, and writer. As a classical composer and performer, his integration of jazz , ethnic and folk music has led him to work with the likes of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Willie Nelson, Langston...
.
- Glenn MercerGlenn MercerGlenn Mercer is the vocalist and guitarist of the North Haledon, New Jersey-based rock band The Feelies. Together with Bill Million, Mercer wrote and produced virtually all of the Feelies' recorded output .-History:...
- Torsello plays bass in Glenn’s solo band.
- Mighty Girl – Torsello plays bass in this Orange County NY band.
- Armedelite Rifles – Lorubbio plays bass and organ with this group.
- Electric Heater Project - Takleszyn performs with the Electric Heater Project in and around central New Jersey.
Studio albums
- Pickled Children (NOT Cassette 1995)
- Somebody’s Watching (NOT Cassette 1996)
- Zod, King of Spoons (NOT CD 1997)
- Misfits & Dreamers (NOT CD 2001)
- Forgotten How To Fall (NOT CD 2009)
Live albums
- Deluge on Tinker Street (NOT Cassette 1995)
- Bangers and MashBangers and mashBangers and mash, also known as sausages and mash, is a traditional English dish made of mashed potatoes and sausages, the latter of which may be one of a variety of flavoured sausage made of pork or beef or a Cumberland sausage....
(NOT CD 2001)