IN REVIEW: Archers of Loaf - "Reason in Decline"
Over the course of their initial run in the '90s, Archers of Loaf never got the breakthrough they deserved; sure, they would eventually gain distribution by a major label (as so many fringe acts of the era did) and get to open for a handful of high profile acts, but the four albums they released from 1993 to 1998 just couldn't expand the band's reach much further than the critics' hearts and college campuses. It wasn't for lack of tunes, that's for sure; Web in Front , the very first song on their very first album, is packed with the crunchy guitars, scrappy production and slacker charm that propelled the Pavements of the world to stardom. If I have to guess, I'd say they were victims of circumstance, not weird enough to stand out and not conventional enough to fit in. Whatever the case, after giving it all that they could, health issues and creative fatigue contributed to a mutual, amicable split shortly after the release of White Trash Heroes in 1998. F...