The Halo Benders are a band formed in 1994 by Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening and Doug Martsch of Built to Spill. They released their first album, called God Don’t Make No Junk, in 1994. They followed up in 1996 with Don’t Tell Me Now and in 1998 with The Rebels Not In.
All three of the band’s albums were released on Johnson’s influential Olympia record label, K Records.
Following a hiatus through the early 2000’s, The Halo Benders reformed in March 2007 for a pair of shows at the Visual Arts Collective in Boise, ID. The band featured Doug Martsch, Ralf Youtz, Calvin Johnson, and Brett Netson.
The Halo Benders’ music is characterised by untraditional sounds, movements, and song structures. Additionally, the vocals of the baritone Johnson and the pitchy Martsch overlap often, even though often entirely unrelated. Johnson has said that the two write lyrics for songs largely independently. |
