High Back Chairs

All four members of the High Back Chairs had been long-time participants in the Washington, D.C. punk subculture before the band was founded in 1989. Hayes had performed in the bands Wonderama and the Mourning Glories (with Lida Husik), as well as contributed to Kurt Sayenga's fanzine, Greed.{{cite web |title=Greed fanzine, Issue 1, Winter 1986 {{!}} Digital Collections @ the University of Maryland |url=https://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/39469 |website=digital.lib.umd.edu}} Steck had been a member of the Velvet Monkeys, Jim Spellman was in Velocity Girl, and Nelson had drummed for Minor Threat, Three, and Senator Flux. Aside from Dischord, Nelson founded another record label, Adult Swim, around the time the High Back Chairs formed. Adult Swim would go on to release music from Girls Against Boys, Holy Rollers, the Snakes, 9353, and others.

Nelson's track record for harder-edged music confused and angered some fans who had expected more of the same with the High Back Chairs. Nelson, however, was vocal in his preference for power pop over hardcore. "I definitely am having more fun playing pop stuff now and having the emphasis on nice melodies and vocal lines," he said. "I'm sure some people would view this as a betrayal, but I definitely view a lot of punk and hardcore and my going through it as going through a stage."{{cite journal |last1=Shapero |first1=Steve |title=New Band New Band |journal=Who Cares? |date=1991 |issue=2 |pages=7}}

The High Back Chairs released an LP, Of Two Minds, on Dischord Records in 1991. "From the album's first moment," critic and author Mark Jenkins wrote in The Washington Post, "it's clear that the Chairs are what the British call pop—fresh, immediate, sweet but not soft."{{cite news |last1=Jenkins |first1=Mark |title=High Back Chairs: Comfortably Pop |work=The Washington Post |date=May 15, 1992}} Recording from November 1990 through April 1991 at Inner Ear Studios, the band and co-producer Ted Niceley occasionally clashed during the sessions for Of Two Minds. "We often overlooked Ted’s impressive credentials and constantly second-guessed him," Hayes recalled{{cite book |last1=Gentry |first1=Brandon |title=Capitol contingency : post-punk, indie rock, and noise pop in Washington, D.C., 1991-1999 |date=2012 |publisher=Garrett County Press |location=New Orleans |isbn=9781891053740 |page=15}} The group exceeded the recording budget Dischord provided, and also spent significant time and resources on the album's elaborate artwork, but were ultimately satisfied. "What I really liked about working with Ted was that he had a real long view," Spellman said. "He was there to make a classic record, and he didn’t care about punk rock scene politics or anything else."{{cite book |last1=Gentry |first1=Brandon |title=Capitol contingency : post-punk, indie rock, and noise pop in Washington, D.C., 1991-1999 |date=2012 |publisher=Garrett County Press |location=New Orleans |isbn=9781891053740 |page=16}}

Jim Spellman left the band in 1991 in favor of playing full-time for Velocity Girl and was replaced by Charles Bennington, who co-owned WGNS Studios{{cite web |last1=Burton |first1=Brent |title=WGNS |url=https://tapeop.com/interviews/13/wgns/ |website=tapeop.com |language=en}} and had previously been a member of Bloody Mannequin Orchestra.

In 1992, the band released a 7", 2 Songs,{{cite web |title=High Back Chairs - 2 songs (074) |url=https://dischord.com/release/074/2-songs-5 |website=Dischord Records}} and an EP, Curiosity and Relief,{{cite web |title=High Back Chairs - Curiosity & Relief (075) |url=https://dischord.com/release/075/curiosity-relief |website=Dischord Records}} also on Dischord. "Crisp guitars again rule the day, with more sing-song pop choruses, heavy bass and drums, lulling backing vocals and a '60s-meets-'80s feel," Jack Rabid wrote of the EP for Trouser Press.{{cite web |last1=Rabid |first1=Jack |title=High Back Chairs |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/high-back-chairs/ |website=Trouser Press}}

Nelson left the band in 1992 and was replaced by Blair Lee Elrod. The group disbanded in 1993.{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=John |title="Geoff Turner and Charles Bennington of WGNS" |journal=Slanted |date=Fall 1993 |issue=1 |page=16-19 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/40326}}

• 2 Songs (Dischord, 1992)
• Curiosity and Relief (Dischord, 1992)

• Of Two Minds (Dischord, 1991)

• "$1.60" on Echos of the Nation's Capital (Third World Underground, 1991)
• "Summer" on 20 Years of Dischord (1980–2000) (Dischord, 2002)

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.dischord.com/band/high-back-chairs High Back Chairs at Dischord.com]
• [http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=high_back_chairs High Back Chairs at Trouser Press]
• [http://dcist.com/2011/08/the_high-back_chairs_of_two_minds.php Secret History: The High Back Chairs' Of Two Minds]

Category:Musical groups from Washington, D.C.