Artistry and Distinction in Record-Making since 1980
SPRINGHOUSE
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 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 House of Love, Ride, 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 ‘60s 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.
The trio briefly split up after an emotional farewell show in late 1993, but stayed good friends and encountered wonderful offers to come back, so they never could stay disbanded long. Since then, they have reconvened with regularity when it has sounded fun, starting with two memorable reunions tours in 1994 and 2002. The band spent the early 2000's working on a highly different orchestral-folk-pop hybrid third album, self-producing and self-releasing From Now To OK, a limited edition CD in 2008 in collaboration with Independent Project Records.
From Now To OK's unexpected, much more acoustic-minded, more purely orchestrated folk rock sound is being reissued for the first time as a deluxe limited edition, with all physical formats featuring a bonus CD of previously unreleased demos, live tracks and rarities. Remastered by Josh Bonati, all physical formats are presented in a beautiful package from master designer and IPR co-owner Bruce Licher. This new edition is available on both black vinyl and clear orange vinyl, as well as a numbered, letterpress printed Special Edition CD. (A super-limited translucent green tint vinyl of only 200 copies was released for RSD Black Friday in November of 2024.)
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.