Aenone / Nyack – Nyack N.Y. (1988 – 1996)

The proximity from Rockland to NYC has always been equal parts a blessing and a disaster to Rockland bands. While affording influence and opportunity in copious amounts, the insular nature of “ the media capital of the world” can also be a death sentence for a band trying to distinguish itself from the thousands of other bands that clog the streets of NYC. It takes a very talented and unique band to break through that snobby and jaded ceiling that exists in the NYC music scene, and to rise above the din….to where they stand on their own, and become something beyond the norm! Let me welcome to the blog a band from Rockland that managed to do just that….say hello to Aenone / Nyack.

Aenone started in 1988 in Nyack NY as the brainchild of Kreg Sterns and Kim Collister while they were still in high school. Feeding on their love of all things Brit….they set off to create a band that defied the conventional Rockland norm. After buying a keyboard, a Mac and a sequencer they started creating demos at home. Aenone embraced the Shoegazer movement with what appears to have been every fiber of their collective being. Glistening chords, flange, fuzz, and Kreg Sterns generally hushed vocals dominated their recordings. Soon….Aenone became a four piece by adding Bill Stair (Hugo Largo) and Steve Crowley (Antietam) answered and soon they booked their first gig at the Underworld in NYC.

As fate would have it, members of the local band Lotion were there and fell in love with the bands swirlie style of music and melody and passed their demos onto Shimmydisc/Kokpop (Kramer's label). They recorded a 4 track EP called - Saints and Razors, released on Kokopop Records at Kramer's Noise NJ studios under his production. Jack Rabid of The Big Takeover said of this EP: "With its pleasant ambiance, Pale Saints-like waterfall melodies, and washed-out guitar with pretty lead touches, Saints and Razors is one hell of an impressive little EP."

A bunch of gigs later including supporting Medicine, Velocity Girl and playing CBGB's over a dozen times, they caught the ear of an American A&R rep for the newly formed Echo Records UK by having had their demo passed onto him by their lawyer. They showcased at CBGBs, and within a month found themselves recording in London with Alan Moulder and being asked to change their name (eventually to NYACK). Their first release was the 1994 Savage Smile EP which included an inspired orchestral version of Saints & Razors. Just prior to the release of their second EP I'm Your Star in March 1995 they landed the prestigious support of Sleeper's tour to coincide with the single. Shortly after this…Nyack released their debut album 11 Track Player.

The album, while brimming with the same textural and hooky pop that was familiar to fans of Aenone was sadly released to little commercial success. The last release Nyack featured on was The Echo Label compilation Drink Me for which they recorded a version of Heart's Barracuda. After that the Nyack name was to be no more as Echo found Nyack to be too expensive and the band took a break from playing. The group resurfaced in 1997 as Fork and released an album Alien Fairies. Kreg Sterns and Kim Collisters current project is The Nuevos (formed in 2003) and they released their debut album On The Brink Of Overnight Obscurity in Jan 2008 available as a free download and deluxe CD.

All said and done Aenone / Nyack were an incredibly talented, innovative and supportive band. (Full disclosure time)…my old band Dahlia Seed were given quite an early boost from Kim and Kreg in our formative years, and I will forever be grateful for their kindness and support when others simply looked the other way.

The Rockland music scene always has it’s up’s and down’s…..bands that always jump on a trend, and ride it to it’s end, but in the case of a band like Aenone / Nyack……they were the” sideways” of the scene, the ones who didn’t jump a trend…who played passionately, and used influence as a building block, not as a template. The ones who created a sound that NO ONE else was doing at the time, and in the case of Rockland County, I would guess probably still aren’t! Kim and Kreg are still making great music to this day in their new project The Nuevos…..and the world is a better place for it!


Chris Skelly
01/24/2012




Saints & Razors
Savage Smile
Saints & Razars (alternate take)
Celestia

GIBSON GIRLS – West Nyack & Pearl River – (1988 to 1990)

THUD!

The first wave of Rockland County punk and hardcore came to a crashing end sometime around 1985. Did anyone notice? Did anyone care?

The bands that we’re so formative in making this tiny and obscure scene so vital and interesting to so few people we’re moving on….ingesting more diverse musical styles, and leaving the confines of Rockland for broader horizons. Some disappeared….some redefined, and others reinvented. Out of that initial haze of the THUD….came the wonderful Gibson Girls!


The Gibson Girls was the brainchild of Tim Broun (formerly of Chappaquiddick + 5 on guitar and vocals), and were for all intents and purposes that natural progression of energy and direction after the demise of the quirky punk of Chappaquiddick + 5. Punk energy mixed with melodic sensibilities…good fucking songs played by a good fucking band! The band was rounded out by Mike Oswald (formerly of Borscht) on guitar, Mike Krashes (formerly of Chappaquiddick + 5) on drums, and Mike Anselmi (formerly of Pearl River band MED) on bass. The Gibson Girls were a mainstay on the NYC indie circuit of the late 80’s & early 90’s, playing to much acclaim and success. While the Gibson Girls did play their fair share of shows in Rockland County during their existence, I think it would be fair to say that they were a primarily a NYC band as their fanbase seemed to enlist a more Lower East Side of NYC clientele through their sound and most certainly through Tim Broun’s connections in the downtown music industry. We loved them though…and still consider them one of the better bands to ever come out of the Rockland scene! The Gibson Girls…like so many other Rockland bands deserved a far bigger following, and much more acclaim than (in my humble opinion) they ever received. We are here because we have chosen to remember…..and we remember the Gibson Girls……now you should too!

Chris Skelly
Jan 23, 2012

Gibson Girls - Let's Get A Rumour Out (Demo Tape 1989)



The Crawl
I Walk Down
Little Miss Schizo
Share
Waiting For Something
(I Really) Dig You
Cheshire Smile
Measure of My Dreams

Naked Statue – Nyack N.Y. – (1988 to 1991)

While Rockland County in the late 80’s and early 90’s was clearly overrun with hordes of angry, young punk and metal bands, all trying to out “aggro” each other, there was another scene going on…..one that was built on many of the same “aggro” roots, but that had clearly embraced a different aesthetic altogether. An aesthetic that was a bit more refined, and “artsy”….and was clearly paralleling the emerging “college rock” or “indie” sound that was fast becoming quite popular. While not a huge scene in Rockland….it did have it’s following that revolved around two central venues…Blondies in Nyack and Mr Rip’s in Valley Cottage. The band that best exemplified this nascent scene, and sound was the wonderful, and engaging Naked Statue.

Naked Statue was Ben Voss ( Guitar / Vocals ), Seth Delia (Bass ) and Jeff Spindel (Drums). Naked Statue had a sound that was very unique at the time of their existence……part Replacements, part Husker Du, part Neil Young, part Gram Parsons…all these parts would later be identified with the Alt Country scene in the 1990’s, but in late 80’s Rockland County….this was quite unique! Ben Voss’s melancholy lyrics and vocals added an air of intense beauty and sincerity to Naked Statue’s open chord charge of volume, and his shy on-stage delivery hid an actual biting wit and charm that few Rockland performers had, or had the balls to embrace. He could most surely be described as Rockland’s answer to J.Mascis. Naked Statue’s talent and originality was starting to blossom by 1989 and they quickly became noticed, and championed by Jack Rabid of the legendary fanzine “The Big Takeover” ,and under his tutelage….Naked Statue broke out of Rockland and started playing legendary NYC venues like CBGB’s w/ Jack’s band Springhouse.

I can safely say that there we’re a large amount of us in Rockland at the time Naked Statue was functional that were sure that this very unique and talented band was going to be THE band that made Rockland proud, and went on to success and acclaim outside of our little podunk local scene. We we’re fans….and we we’re proud!

Naked Statue unfortunately came to an end sometime in the early 90’s , and each member moved on to other projects both musical and personal (Seth Delia played with a band called DOSE that had an early 90’s release on Caroline Records, and Jeff Spindel became a very sought after session musician around Rockland). Ben Voss continued making music with a burgeoning solo career, and some of his post Naked Statue solo work is quite simply the most beautiful, striking and realized work he ever did! Sadly….Rockland County lost one of it’s most talented and promising musicians in 1999. Ben Voss lost his very brave battle with Leukemia, and most certainly left a huge void in the sound and hearts of all the Rockland bands, musicians and friends who knew him and his music.

Please enjoy these Naked Statue tracks from their 1989 demo tape….as much as we all did!

Chris Skelly – January 9th, 2012.

Songs:

Running Away
Talking To Myself
New Rose (Damned cover)