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Quasi
- Avg user rating:
Out of 20 votes - Similar Artists: White Stripes, Sleater-Kinney
Out of 20 votes
- Location: Portland, Oregon, United States
- Genre: Alternative/Punk » Indie Pop
Editor's review
Like the White Stripes, Quasi's Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss used to be married, and they still exist as a dark yet catchy rock 'n' roll duo--complete with a bombastic female drummer. The difference is, Quasi mines the Beatles' high-minded melodicism while the Stripes cop the Stones' bluesy swagger. Both work great, so maybe if Quasi pretended to be siblings and were color-coded, they'd be huge, too. Let's start a rivalry!
Biography
"We worked on When the Going Gets Dark for almost three difficult years. Quasi is the same two people since the beginning, since our cassette tape debut in 1993. Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss. We've been to hell and back as musicians and friends, and we wanted that depth to significantly impact the new material. Improvisation. . .facilitated the creation of unique, unrestrained moments. The songs were loose, the playing looser still. The turbulent act of being alive made it impossible for When the Going Gets Dark to sound anything less than rollicking and unruly."
Quasi consists of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, both of whom carry impressive resumes to the table. Mr. Coomes has recorded and/or toured with Heatmiser, Elliott Smith, Built to Spill and more, and also performs under the name Blues Goblins. Ms. Weiss has had stints with The Go Betweens, Junior High, and Elliot Smith, and continues to play drums with Sleater-Kinney. Regarding the band this duo shares, Quasi formed in Portland, OR in 1993 and released their first recording, a self-titled cassette, that same year. In 1995, they released Early Recordings, and two years later found themselves on Up Records. Up released their next three albums; R&B Transmogrification (1997), Featuring Birds (1998), and Field Studies (1999). Quasi has released two full length records on Touch and Go since 2001 (not including the reissues of Early Recordings): The Sword of God (2001) and Hot Shit (2003).
Quasi takes a stripped down line up and makes an incredibly big sound with it. Much of their signature style was originally derived from Sam?s Roxichord (a unique hybrid keyboard) and acidic lyrics coupled with Janet?s deft drumming and honeyed backing vocals, although other instruments could always be found wandering through the course of an album. Most recently, Hot Shit found the band moving away from their sunny, keyboard-driven songs and into a bluesier, psych-tinged guitar-based sound.
Between the members? other commitments, Quasi remains active, performing and recording whenever time allows. Keep an eye and ear open for new material.
And in case you were wondering, Quasi was named after a character in the Sally Cruikshank animated film Quasi at the Quackadero.
