Arson Garden was a band from Bloomington, Indiana,
that made arty, aggressive, melodic rock music from
1987-1994. April Combs was their charismatic singer,
whose wit and distinctive voice helped win the band a
reputation as a live act not to be missed. April’s
brother James Combs played guitar and wrote much of
the music. Joby Barnett was AG’s singular, inventive
drummer, whose work complimented the imaginative bass playing of Clark Starr. Michael Mann brought a
pallette of catchy guitar hooks and feedback landscapes to round out the group’s sound.
Arson Garden released 3 albums, an EP, two singles,
and a cassette during their 7 years together.
Produced by Indianapolis’ Paul Mahern at Hit City,
their eponymous 1988 cassette attracted the attention
of producer Albert Garzon (10,000 Maniacs), who signed Arson Garden to his Brooklyn-based Community 3 Records. Garzon and engineer Tom Herbers produced the band’s debut album "Under Towers" during one hectic week at Prince’s Paisley Park Studio in Minnesota in late 1989.
When the album was released in early 1990, the group
found themselves the subject of rave reviews (the
Chicago Reader called them "perhaps the only art rock
band in North America that matters"), in the upper
reaches of the CMJ charts, on MTV’s 120 Minutes, and
touring extensively throughout the US and Europe.
While in Europe, legendary English dj John Peel
invited Arson Garden to perform a Peel Session for his
BBC Radio 1 show, three tracks from which ended up on the band’s second album, "Wisteria" (1991).
"Wisteria" (Vertabrae), produced by Tom Herbers in
Minneapolis’ Creation Studios in 10 days (recording
sessions started at midnight and ended at 8am due to
budget constraints), brought the band’s sound into
further focus, with bracing guitars, wilder rhythms,
more intricate arrangements, provocative lyrics, and
emotionally charged performances from April.
More college radio play and touring ensued, including
an invitation to play the 1992 Lollapalooza Festival
and extensive dates throughout the US. An appearance at the CMJ festival in NYC in October 1992, got the band noticed by Priority/American Empire Records, a new label formed by former Atlantic Records Marketing VP Joe Grillo, which led to the group’s signing to the label.
Arson Garden’s third album "The Belle Stomp" was recorded at Pachyderm Studios (Nirvana, PJ Harvey) in Minnesota, again with Tom Herbers behind the boards. With the luxury of a month to record, the band delved into ambitious terrain. From 1 minute micro-songs to long ambitious rhythmic explorations to quiet acoustic numbers to aggressive pop, Arson Garden explored the widest reaches of its sound yet, with the hope that they would finally break out of the college scene and find a wider audience.
But it was not to be... with the financial collapse of
their third record label shortly after the release of
"The Belle Stomp", the group decided to call it quits,
leaving in their wake an impressive recorded output
and a history of sold out live shows.
Arson Garden reunited for a tribute show to their old
haunt, the legendary Second Story club in Bloomington, in September, 2006. More shows may come.
Great to see an Arson Garden page! Man alive, I loved that band, and I never did get to see them. Broke my heart when they broke up, and I think it just broke again to find out that they did a reunion show recently.
