Simply put,
Spilling Poetry
was the best band to come out of West Texas in the '90s, and that,
really, in itself is somewhat of an understatement; they should have
been much, much more. While most other rock bands were content to grind
out the standard classic rock/blues rock fare or merely recreate the
sonant imprints of either
Nirvana or
Green Day in their respective heydays of the decade,
Spilling Poetry
broke through the glass ceilings of expectations with a blindingly
bright amalgamation of influences. Initially borrowing their guitar
textures and heroics from the Seattle sound, but adding in enough of the
jangle pop melody of bands like
R.E.M.
and an unusually talented and heartfelt lyrical prowess to
differentiate between the two, they quickly took the then-languishing
Lubbock, TX, music scene by storm. Though they went on to face much
regional competition toward the end of the decade in the growing scene
they literally helped to create, they soldiered on. Their popularity
never waned or lulled, even after two albums, an EP, and seven years of
pouring their hearts out to both empty seats and packed houses alike; in
fact, it only grew. By the beginnings of the new millennium, they were
hard at work on a new album and seemed to finally be on the verge of
making their rightful breakthrough to the mainstream. And then, just
like that, it was over.
Spilling Poetry
was actually born from the ashes of Bone Flower Elegy, another popular
local band around the Lubbock music scene. When the bass player for Bone
Flower Elegy quit in early 1994, the remaining members -- Brian
Enderson (vocals, guitar), Lynn Holdridge (drums), and Jamie (guitar) --
joined up with Ryan Muff (bass) and changed their name to
Spilling Poetry.
The new band quickly set about playing around town and soon recorded
their debut album, Invisible, which came out later in the spring of
1994. While Invisible went on to sell out the initial 1,000 copies the
band had made, they continued to play regionally and build themselves a
strong following over the next two years. By the mid-'90s,
Spilling Poetry
had become known as the band to see in West Texas and were widely
heralded as the ones most likely to break into the big time.
In mid-1996, the band continued their reign of popularity with the release of the
Microphonic EP, but had a lineup change when Jamie left the band and was replaced by
Michael Mayer (guitar, vocals). With
Mayer's
skills newly arranged under their belt, they decided to step further
out of Lubbock and go on tour around various parts of Texas and New
Mexico. They played everywhere they possibly could for the next year and
a half, from all the back-alley bars and dives territorial of a
traveling band, to several choice opening slots for larger acts. They
followed this up with the auspicious release of
Telepathetic in March of 1998, which showcased a tighter, more muscular
Spilling Poetry forged in all those many hard nights on the road.
In late 1999 to early 2000, the band regrouped back
in Lubbock to begin recording what was going to be their third
full-length album. By this time, they had added the talents of
ex-Flywater Washington member Scott Crader (guitar, vocals, organ) to
the fold. In early 2001, songs like "Human Trampoline" and "Freeway"
were leaked on the band's website for fans to hear, and solely on the
hit-making strength of these compositions alone, it seemed obvious that
the new
Spilling Poetry
album would be the one to finally take them to the top. Then, in May of
2001, at the height of what was supposed to be the final mixing of the
new album, the band suddenly shocked everyone by announcing they were
breaking up under ambiguous, but apparently amicable circumstances. No
sooner than that, the story of
Spilling Poetry
just sort of bowed out and came to an end. Luckily, though the band may
have called it quits and their first two releases -- Invisible and
Microphonic -- have gone out of print, all
Spilling Poetry's
previous music is still available on their website in one form or
another, and the band has continued to release new songs off their
unfinished last album from time to time.
