The Kingsbury Manx emerged in 1999 from the same North Carolina indie rock scene that spawned the Archers Of Loaf and Superchunk before them. Band members Ken Stephenson (guitar/vocals), Bill Taylor (guitar/vocals), Ryan Richardson (drums/vocals), and Scott Myers (bass/keyboards) attended middle school together in Greensboro before going separate ways during their college years. Stephenson and Myers enrolled in creative writing studies at Wilmington while Taylor and Richardson both landed at UNC, Chapel Hill, but during visits back home, the quartet began writing and recording music for a demo. Their break came when Overcoat Recordings owner (and former Thrill Jockey employee) Howard Greynolds heard the tape and agreed to fund their debut. 'The Kingsbury Manx' was released by the label in 1999 to so little fanfare that it ended up creating a small amount of mystery. Managing to stay independent from any particular scene, the band cultivated a sound simultaneously derivative and original, with influences from such timeless artists as early Pink Floyd, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beach Boys, and The Byrds, but they were handled with such loving care and attention to detail that they were rendered largely insignificant. The album became one of the underground indie successes of 2000, landing in the year-end polls of NME (Top 50) and Magnet ("Ten Great Albums Buried in 2000"), and a short tour of the U.S. followed in support of Elliott Smith. 'Let You Down' followed in 2001, with it's Japanese issue including two bonus tracks in 'Dirt And Grime' and 'My Shaky Hand'. Their next release was an EP entitled 'Afternoon Owls', which arrived in late 2003, and the band toured in support of it with The Sea And Cake. Additional shows with Gorky's Zygotic Mynci coincided with the release of the band's third album, 'Aztec Discipline', later that year, and this was the first to include new band members Paul Finn on keyboards and bassist/drummer Clarque Blomquist, who took over from the departing Stephenson and Myers. In 2004, The Kingsbury Manx started working on tunes for their next album at their practice space (Pine Manor) in Chapel Hill, travelling up to Michigan to record the songs at the Key Club studios, and in early 2005 they left longtime label Overcoat Recordings to sign with local North Carolina label Yep Roc Records. The band took the Key Club tapes to Chicago, where Wilco member Mikael Jorgensen mixed the album, and the result was their 2005 release, 'The Fast Rise And Fall Of The South'. After taking a long break, the band returned in 2009 with the simpler, folkier 'Ascenseur Ouvert!', which was released on Finn's Odessa label, and working at a leisurely pace again, their sixth record, 'Bronze Age', came out in 2013. The band never officially broke up, but just drifted apart as they grew older, and so as an introduction to one of my favourite band's of the early-to-mid 00's, here is a collection of some of their best work.
Track listing
01 And What Fallout! (from 'The Fast Rise And Fall Of The South' 2005)
02 Pageant Square (from 'The Kingsbury Manx' 1999)
03 Pelz Komet (from 'Aztec Discipline' 2003)
04 Glass Eye (from 'Bronze Age' 2013)
05 Grape To Grain (from 'Aztec Discipline' 2003)
06 Walk On Water (from 'Ascenseur Ouvert!' 2009)
07 Piss Diary (from 'The Kingsbury Manx' 1999)
08 Custer's Last (from 'Bronze Age' 2013)
09 Well, Whatever (from 'Ascenseur Ouvert!' 2009)
10 Whether Or Not It Matters (from 'The Kingsbury Manx' 1999)
11 Greenland (from 'The Fast Rise And Fall Of The South' 2005)
12 Courtyard Waltz (from 'Let You Down' 2001)
13 Harness And Wheel (from 'The Fast Rise And Fall Of The South' 2005)
14 Rustic Stairs (from 'Let You Down' 2001)
15 Half Man (from the 'Afternoon Owls' EP 2003)
16 How Cruel (from 'The Kingsbury Manx' 1999)
