Drop Nineteens were a Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

-based indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band active from 1991 to 1995. They were one of a few U.S.-based bands who styled themselves on England's distinctive shoegazing

Shoegazing

Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...

 sound, taking their inspiration from bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive

Slowdive

Slowdive were an English shoegaze band that formed in 1989. The band formed in Reading, Berkshire and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin , Rachel Goswell , Neil Halstead , and Christian Savill...

, Th' Faith Healers

Th' Faith Healers

Th' Faith Healers were a UK indie rock group who were active between 1990 and 1994 and part of the so-called Camden lurch scene. They recorded multiple EPs and singles along with two full LPs...

, and Bleach

Bleach (British band)

Bleach were an indie rock band from Ipswich, England, usually considered part of the shoegazing genre. The band was formed in 1989 by brothers Neil and Nick Singleton together with drummer Steve Scott and vocalist Salli Carson. Their first release was the Eclipse EP in 1990, followed in 1991 by...

. The band was formed by former classmates Greg Ackell (vocals, guitar) and Chris Roof (drums), who recruited Paula Kelley

Paula Kelley

Paula Kelley is an American indie pop singer-songwriter and orchestral arranger/composer from Boston, Massachusetts. She began her musical career in the 1990s with the band Drop Nineteens before leaving them in 1994 to start her own career in songwriting...

 (vocals, guitar), Steve Zimmerman (bass), and Motohiro Yasue (guitar).

Overview

Much like Boston's Pixies who came before them, Drop Nineteens were better known in the UK, where, as an unsigned band, they first gained attention from the British music press with two 8-track demos. The band ultimately reached the UK's Indie Album and Indie Singles charts with formal releases after signing a record deal.

Signing to Caroline Records (Hut Records

Hut Records

VC Recordings trading as Hut Records was a British record label brand which was started in 1990 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin Records...

 in the UK), Drop Nineteens immediately garnered college radio airplay with their 1992 debut album, Delaware.

Because of artistic differences, several member changes occurred between the first and second full length releases. Paula Kelley, Chris Roof, and Motohiro Yasue went on to pursue other interests, and Megan Gilbert (vocals, guitar), Pete Koeplin (drums, now drummer for the band Kahoots) and Justin Crosby (guitar) were added to the lineup in 1993.

Shortly thereafter, Drop Nineteens released their second full-length album, National Coma. National Comas original cover design was a photograph of a reclining nude woman, painted entirely white, wearing a white ski mask, in front of a white background. Most CD copies have a jumbled (censored) version of this photo, while LPs have the original cover. (The Japanese version of the album had two bonus tracks: "Tempest" and "Sea Rock.")

The band made three music videos, and toured on the success of their first album; they headlined/ co-headlined/opened tours in England, Europe, and North America, and recorded BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 radio sessions for John Peel

John Peel

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

 and Mark Goodier

Mark Goodier

-Early career:Mark Goodier was born in Rhodesia . His family moved to the UK when he was a child, eventually settling in Scotland. He was educated at George Heriot's School, in Edinburgh. He became a mobile DJ in Edinburgh and then joined local station Radio Forth at the age of 19...

. They played on some summer music festivals, including England's Reading Festival and North America's Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...

. Further artistic differences ensued, however, and the band broke up for good in 1995.

After Drop Nineteens, Ackell and Koeplin recorded an album under the band name Fidel in the late nineties, which was never formally released. Kelley went on to front the bands Hot Rod and Boy Wonder, and is currently a solo artist with the Paula Kelley Orchestra. Rumors of a third Drop Nineteens album have circulated over the past decade, but no release date has ever been announced.

Discography

• Mayfields (1991, self-released)
• Delaware
  Delaware (album)
  This is the second album by the Drop Nineteens. It was released in 1992....
  
  (1992, Plan 9/ Caroline/ Hut)
• "Winona" single (1992, Caroline/ Hut/ Virgin)
• Your Aquarium CD/10" EP (1992, Plan 9/ Caroline/ Hut)
• National Coma (1993, Caroline/ Hut/ Virgin)
• Limp 7"/ 12" EP (1993, Hut/ Virgin)/(1994, Caroline)