FIRST TIME ON VINYL! Originally released as a limited edition CD in 2008 by Independent Project Records, this new expanded edition is being released on vinyl, CD and digital formats and includes previously unreleased demos, rarities and live tracks. (Note: Bonus tracks for all physical editions are on CD.)
From Now to OK captures Springhouse exploring a more acoustic, folk rock-indebted sound; still showing their trademark flair for dreamy melodic textures, the ever-Anglophile Springhouse can be heard embracing the late sixties influence of Nick Drake and The Beatles.
Presented in a beautiful package from master designer Bruce Licher, this Black vinyl LP edition is available in limited quantities. (A super-limited translucent green tint vinyl of only 200 copies was released for RSD Black Friday in November of 2024). Please see our other listings for the Translucent Orange vinyl and CD editions.
New York trio Springhouse may be best remembered as the first major-signed, nationally touring U.S. shoegaze band of the original era: a 1991 MTV video, “Layers,” a Rolling Stone feature and copious airplay brought notice to two memorable albums on the fabled Virgin Records’ subsidiary Caroline Records. The group started with a hot debut single for Singles Only (a label founded by Bob Mould, Maxwell’s Steve Fallon and radio DJ Nick Hill) then signed to Caroline, who released their first two albums, 1991’s Land Falls (featuring superb design by IPR’s Bruce Licher) and 1993’s Postcards From the Arctic.
Springhouse were among the first Americans to cover My Bloody Valentine and share stages across the country with the likes of Ride, House of Love, The Chills, Psychedelic Furs, Belly and Lemonheads. The three are also fondly recalled for their utterly unique contribution to the original dreampop movement/explosion: singer/songwriter Mitch Friedland exclusively played small, nylon-stringed acoustic guitars, heavily processed through customized pickups with wicked effects, while employing an endless battery of alternate tunings. Amidst the trio’s melodic guitar-pop prowess, Friedland’s accentuation of latent sixties Britfolk underpinnings made them truly singular in the shoegaze/dreampop era. This, combined with bassist Larry Heinemann and drummer Jack Rabid’s supple yet sometimes more punky, bolstering attack, a crisp sound, exuberant ensemble playing, highly evolved arrangements, and a love of a tune to die for, proved to be their calling card.
All in all, Springhouse were one of New York’s, and the U.S.’s, finest pre-Nirvana indie rock bands—and remain one whenever they choose to come out of retirement again.
LP Track Listing:
1. Passion
2. Moving Van
3. Time Runs Out
4. No More Yesterdays
5. Grateful
6. Pomegranate Tree
7. Sea and Rain
8. Never Impossible
9. Mercedes Marxist
10. Snapshot
11. Count
12. Anew
Bonus CD Track Listing:
13. Passion (Instrumental)
14. Time Runs Out (Instrumental)
15. No More Yesterdays (Instrumental)
16. Sea and Rain (Instrumental)
17. Mercedes Marxist (Instrumental)
18. Snapshot (Instrumental)
19. Passion (Demo)
20. Sea and Rain (Demo)
21. Rescue Work (Mercedes Marxist - Demo)
22. No One Has to Know
23. Open Your Eyes (Live)
24. Passion (Live)
25. Moving Van (Live)
26. Enslave Me (Live)
27. Alley Park (Live)
Releases March 14, 2025
SPRINGHOUSE - From Now to OK - Black Vinyl LP
"Any time we received vinyl from Independent Project Records, it's cause for celebration. This reissue from New York three-piece Springhouse is no exception... The album itself is a treat. Elements of folk-rock and dream-pop create a sound Nuggets-esque, psychedelic garage joy. The songwriting is strong, the melodies infectious, and the musicianship is spot on... As is always the case with IPR, the packaging is exemplary."
—Brett Callwood, Music Connection
"New York-based trio Springhouse's profile may have been at its highest with their two shoegaze albums in the early '90s, but this, their third, originally released in 2008, revealed a band whose maturer second act was arguably more satisfying. Reissued in Independent Project's customary beautifully housed physical formats, From Now To OK is a melodically rich set of songs that merge American college-rock with folk and baroque touches. 'Moving Van' is the album's most immediately likeableand poppy number, comparable to early REM, but it's the quieter, more considered songs that have longer lasting resonance. 'Sea And Rain' explores a relationship's ending, 'Pomegranate Tree' is all alt-folk guitar strums and stirring string arrangement. Elsewhere, 'Grateful' recalls latter day Beatles, while 'Never Impossible' draws on Brit-folk fingerpicking."
—Duncan Fletcher, Shindig!