Red House Painters

Due to their initial signing to 4AD Records and their obvious love of effects pedals, Red House Painters were initially seen as San Francisco's somewhat late addition to the shoegazer scene. But frontman Mark Kozelek's heart-on-sleeve lyrics and folkish influences--much more Tim Buckley than My Bloody Valentine--made the quartet more of a precursor to the alt-folk and slowcore scenes to follow. After a debut consisting of demos remixed by 4AD head Ivo Watts-Russell, the group made their reputation with a pair of untitled albums informally known as Rollercoaster and Bridge due to their respective cover photos. The stripped-down Ocean Beach featured a more overtly acoustic, folk-influenced stance, but 1996's Songs For A Blue Guitar was fundamentally a Kozelek solo album, featuring lengthy electric guitar solos. 4AD deemed the album unfit for release, causing the band's exit from the label. Ironically, it became the group's most high-profile and critically-acclaimed release to that point. However, the folding of the label that released Songs For A Blue Guitar (an Island Records subsidiary funded by filmmaker John Hughes) left its follow-up, Old Ramon, stuck in limbo for over three years until it was finally released by Sub Pop in 2001. However, by that point, Red House Painters had split and Kozelek had begun his solo career, as well as a sideline gig as an actor. Kozelek and drummer Anthony Koutsos formed Sun Kil Moon in 2003.