The Mendoza Line (band)
Encyclopedia
The Mendoza Line were a rock and roll band whose members began playing together while in college in the mid-1990s in Athens, Georgia
, and who eventually settled in Brooklyn
. Their name comes from the dismal .200 batting average of Mario Mendoza
. They released eight full albums of sometimes folky, occasionally country-styled indie rock
that is influenced by classic songwriters like Bob Dylan
, John Cale
and Paul Westerberg
, and alt-country bands like Whiskeytown
and Wilco
. They recorded for several labels, such as Kindercore
, Misra
and Bar/None Records
.
-style pop, their early sound was more influenced by noisier acts like The Replacements and The Mekons. Over the years, the band has featured not one but several songwriters; the band's original musical cornerstone was the songs of founding members Timothy Bracy and Peter Hoffman. Other members included Lori Carrier, Margaret Maurice, Paul Deppler and Andres Galdames.
In 2000, Shannon McArdle joined the outfit, and became a major contributor to the songwriting, beginning with that year's We're All In This Alone. 2002's Lost In Revelry continued the string of favorably reviewed, but poor-selling albums. Drummer Sean Fogarty joined the band in 2002, along with John Troutman on the guitar and pedal steel.
After 2004's Fortune, Hoffman took a hiatus from the band, while Bracy and McArdle were married in 2005. That year the couple released an album, the more electronica-dappled The View From The Floor, as a duo under the name Slow Dazzle
. Entertainment Weekly declared that 2005's Full of Light And Full of Fire contained "the prettiest protest songs imaginable."
In a turn of events that recalls the story of their songwriting heroes Richard and Linda Thompson, Bracy and McArdle announced their divorce in 2007. The band issued a final recording called 30 Year Low, along with a bonus disc combining covers, live tracks and rarities in August 2007.
By Slow Dazzle
By Shannon McArdle:
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
, and who eventually settled in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. Their name comes from the dismal .200 batting average of Mario Mendoza
Mendoza Line
The Mendoza Line is an expression in baseball in the United States, deriving from the name of shortstop Mario Mendoza, whose lifetime batting average is taken to define the threshold of incompetent hitting...
. They released eight full albums of sometimes folky, occasionally country-styled 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...
that is influenced by classic songwriters like Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
and Paul Westerberg
Paul Westerberg
Paul Westerberg is an American musician, best known as the former lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter of The Replacements, one of the seminal alternative rock bands of the 1980s. He launched a solo career after the dissolution of that band...
, and alt-country bands like Whiskeytown
Whiskeytown
Whiskeytown was an alternative country band formed in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1994. Fronted by Ryan Adams, other members included Caitlin Cary, Phil Wandscher, Eric "Skillet" Gilmore, and Mike Daly. They disbanded in 2000, with Adams leaving to pursue his solo career...
and Wilco
Wilco
Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John...
. They recorded for several labels, such as Kindercore
Kindercore Records
Kindercore Records is an independent record label based in Athens, Georgia, which was founded in 1996 by Ryan Lewis and Daniel Geller to document the emerging music scene in Athens, Georgia....
, Misra
Misra Records
Misra Records is an independent record label run out of Durham, North Carolina with branch offices in Washington D.C., Seattle, Washington, and Los Angeles, California....
and Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey.-Early history:Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his native Ireland, Prendergast moved to Hoboken in 1982 and started Pier Platters...
.
History
Although their first recordings were issued by Kindercore Records, a label whose artists leaned towards sunny Beach Boys and ZombiesThe Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
-style pop, their early sound was more influenced by noisier acts like The Replacements and The Mekons. Over the years, the band has featured not one but several songwriters; the band's original musical cornerstone was the songs of founding members Timothy Bracy and Peter Hoffman. Other members included Lori Carrier, Margaret Maurice, Paul Deppler and Andres Galdames.
In 2000, Shannon McArdle joined the outfit, and became a major contributor to the songwriting, beginning with that year's We're All In This Alone. 2002's Lost In Revelry continued the string of favorably reviewed, but poor-selling albums. Drummer Sean Fogarty joined the band in 2002, along with John Troutman on the guitar and pedal steel.
After 2004's Fortune, Hoffman took a hiatus from the band, while Bracy and McArdle were married in 2005. That year the couple released an album, the more electronica-dappled The View From The Floor, as a duo under the name Slow Dazzle
Slow Dazzle (band)
Slow Dazzle is a musical duo composed of Shannon McArdle and Timothy Bracy, both also of The Mendoza Line....
. Entertainment Weekly declared that 2005's Full of Light And Full of Fire contained "the prettiest protest songs imaginable."
In a turn of events that recalls the story of their songwriting heroes Richard and Linda Thompson, Bracy and McArdle announced their divorce in 2007. The band issued a final recording called 30 Year Low, along with a bonus disc combining covers, live tracks and rarities in August 2007.
Recordings
By the Mendoza Line:- Poems To A Pawnshop (1997) (Kindercore)
- Like Someone In Love (1998) (Kindercore) [EP]
- I Like You When You're Not Around (1999) (Kindercore)
- We're All In This Alone (2000) (Bar/None)
- Lost In Revelry (2002) (Misra)
- If They Knew This Was The End (2003) (Bar/None) [compilation of songs from Poems to a Pawnshop and Like Someone in Love plus bonus tracks]
- Fortune (2004) (Bar/None)
- Sent Down To AA (2004) (Misra) [compilation of rarities, live tracks, outtakes, etc]
- Full Of Light And Full Of Fire (2005) (Misra)
- 30 Year Low (2007) (Glurp) [double CD - disc one is 30 Year Low, an EP - disc two is titled Final Reflections of the Legendary Malcontent and contains rarities, live cuts, etc]
By Slow Dazzle
Slow Dazzle
Slow Dazzle was the fifth album and the second for Island Records by former Velvet Underground member John Cale, released in 1975. The cover photography was by Keith Morris. It is also the second consecutive album to feature both Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music.-Track listing:All tracks...
- The View From the Floor (2005) (Misra) [featuring Timothy Bracy, Shannon McArdle, & Peter Laqngland-Hassan]
By Shannon McArdle:
- Summer of the Whore (2008) (Bar/None) [featuring former Mendoza Line members/contributors Adam Gold, Clint Newman, Peter Laqngland-Hassan, Philip McArdle]
External links
- Interview with Shannon McArdle by Michael D. Ayers Village Voice (8/28/2008)