released May 1, 1991

Mitch Friedland lead vocals, guitars, hammer dulcimer
Larry Heinemann bass, additional acoustic and electric guitars, and backing vocals
Jack Rabid drums, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Eskimo" and "Alone"

Mike McMackin keyboards, percussion, feedback guitar
Stuart Rake - cello

Produced by Mike McMackin and Springhouse
Recorded by Mike McMackin
Additional Engineering by Steve Immervahr

Recorded at Sound on Sound Studios January-February 1989, NY, NY; Waterfront Studios Hobokon, NJ, and Carriage House Studios, Stamford, CT 1990
Mixed at Sound on Sound and at Carriage House

All songs Springhouse. Published by Blime Stock Music (BMI)

Still-going New York trio Springhouse are perhaps best remembered as the first major-signed, nationally touring U.S. shoegaze band of the original era—with a 1991 MTV video “Layers,” Rolling Stone “New Faces” feature, and copious airplay bringing notice to two memorable albums on the fabled Virgin Records’ subsidiary Caroline Records—home then to Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Drop 19s, Naked Raygun, Idaho, Misfits, etc. They began with a hot debut single for Bob Mould’s Singles Only label, 1990’s “Menagerie Keeper,” then issued their two, original days’ Caroline albums, 1991’s Land Falls on vinyl, cassette, and CD, and 1993’s Postcards From the Arctic (produced by Joe Chiccarelli, known for work with American Music Club, The Shins, and Morrissey) on cassette and CD.

Touring all over North America in support of those three records and their 1992 “Eskimo” EP, Springhouse were among the first Americans to cover My Bloody Valentine, and share stages across the country with House of Love, Ride, Kitchens of Distinction, Ocean Blue, The Chills, Psychedelic Furs, New Model Army, the Sugarcubes’ farewell gig, Judybats, Belly, Velocity Girl, Lemonheads, and others. (Plus, oddly, on a WHFS Baltimore festival, they played after a fledgling Dave Matthews Band, having also played at CBGB in between Hole and Smashing Pumpkins on a 1992 Caroline label showcase.)

Springhouse are also fondly recalled for their utterly unique contribution to the original dreampop movement/explosion—singer/songwriter Mitch Friedland’s exclusive use of small, nylon-stringed acoustic guitars, heavily processed through customized pickups with wicked effects, while employing an endless battery of alternate tunings! Right: amidst the trio’s melodic guitar-pop prowess, Friedland’s accentuation of latent ‘60s Britfolk underpinnings was the concurring element that made them truly singular in that shoegaze/dreampop era. (In 1991 interviews, Friedland professed a left-field love of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, Bert Jansch, and John Martyn, before such artists became fashionable.) This playing, combined with bassist Larry Heinemann and drummer Jack Rabid’s supple yet sometimes more punky, bolstering attack, a crisp sound, exuberant ensemble playing, highly evolved arrangements, and a love of a tune to die for proved to be their calling card. Friedland’s emotional lead singing (Rabid also sang lead on a half-dozen tunes), and both his and Rabid’s unusually thoughtful lyrics—most on fraying relationships, but some on sociopolitical topics; the environmental wakeup call “Layers” and homeless study “Eskimo” best among them—completed the band’s fully rounded picture and insistence that everything be at the highest artistic standard.

The threesome briefly split up after an emotional farewell show in late 1993 at New York’s infamous Limelight club, but staying good friends and encountering wonderful offers to come back, could never stay disbanded long. Since then, they have reconvened with some small regularity when it has sounded fun, starting with two memorable reunions tours in 1994 with Mark Burgess band—half of Chameleons U.K.—and 2002 with the fully reunited Chameleons U.K. (a high watermark for the group, including a Washington D.C. show where the crowd sang along with Springhouse’s songs). Next they spent all of the ‘00s working on a highly different orchestral-folk-pop hybrid third LP, self-producing and self-releasing 2008’s unexpected, much more acoustic-minded From Now to OK on Independent Project Records. Bound to surprise and please old fans and the newly curious, it was released digitally and as a limited edition fine art letterpress CD package designed by twice-Grammy-nominated Bruce Licher. They then reconvened to tour again with new fourth member, guitarist/bassist Dave Burokas manning the bass for the busy Heinemann to promote that, supporting Magnetic Morning—a duo of Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino and Adam Franklin, leader of Swervedriver, and flying down to Atlanta to fulfill their decades-long wish to play with For Against.

More recently in 2010 they appeared again for two nights at Rabid’s currated Big Takeover 30th Anniversary Festival at Brooklyn’s Bell House—performing both nights, the second night their first ever with Dave Bru playing their Postcards second LP start to finish, first time ever as a full quartet with Dave Burokas on second guitar instead of fill-in bass —with For Against, Mark Burgess, The Avengers, Channel 3, The Posies’ Jon Auer, Paul Collins’ Beat, The Sharp Things, ex-Muttonbirds Don McGlashan, Visqueen, Flower, Libertines U.S., Newtown Neurotics’ Steve Drewett, Sleepover Disaster, and others. In 2013, they went back in the studio to record a Bongos-related cover song, “No One Has to Know” for a charity tribute LP in support of Hurricane Sandy relief, My Hometown.

in 2018, the original three members and Dave Burokas once again on second guitar came back to co-headline Kalamshoegazer 12 festival with Ringo Deathstarr, Soft Science, and five others. And in February 2019 the modern foursome will play four East Coast shows with The Chills, having played with them once 29 years before in Chapel Hill, NC (along with Blake Babies, in April 1990).

Another thing to note: And if there is one old song that bridges all three albums in style and mood, it is probably “Layers,” a 1991 MTV 120 Minutes favorite directed by Michael Stipe’s old partner in C00 films, Jim McKay (viewable at www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GApvdy7ZLg). A quarter century later, “Layers” seems especially prescient in this era of global warming concerns, a science fiction look at a world without an Ozone layer, its nature scenes interspersed with polluting smokestacks—concurrent to the band’s stand against the era’s wasteful CD longbox packaging. (Land Falls was solely issued on digipack, also well ahead of the current curve.) That conviction was seen again in Licher’s From Now to OK’s fine art, letter-pressed foldout sleeve, a work of art as lasting as the music. (Licher also designed Land Falls’ environmental-themed sleeve, 17 years ago, based on a photo of England’s Uffington White Horse that also inspired the cover of XTC’s English Settlement.) Meanwhile, the harrowing, divorce-tinged swansong, Postcards From the Arctic is well expressed by their other MTV video from that LP, the equally stark, bitter winter cold-shot “All About Me,” viewable at www.youtube.com/watch?v=anClMq_pYv4. Although the second LP and third LP’s lyrical themes were much more intensely personal, they still communicate through a total art package of music, lyrics, video, art packaging, and interviews.Lastly, Springhouse’s continued bonhomie and regular re-emergences compliment all three members’ frantic activities when not together. Larry Heinemann has toured the world as the original Musical Director and studio engineer of the wildly popular Blue Man Group, touring with David Bowie, Moby, and Buster Ryhmes and appearing frequently on Jay Leno and other TV showcases. He’s produced several albums as well, for Tracy Bonham, Code Mesa, Hayes Peebles, and mixed others for Peter Moore and Slow Learner, and also helms a Brian Eno tribute band, Music For Enophiles. 25-year New York City Paramedic (a topic of fascination in the band’s old press!) Mitch Friedland was promoted to Lieutenant, but kept writing songs. And Jack Rabid has spent 39 years as the editor and publisher of the highly respected music magazine The Big Takeover, when not doing Johnny Rotten cover stories for Spin, writing for AllMusic, Amazon, and years ago Interview, The Village Voice, Paper, The East Village Eye, Creem, and Rockpool, and the now defunct Ice, playing drums for the late, lamented Last Burning Embers and, a 2002 CBGB reunion of his 1980-1982 punk band, Even Worse, and, since 2008 hosting his weekly “Big Takeover” show, now heard on realpunkradio.com. (Archived at bigtakeover.com/radio.)

All in all, Springhouse were one of New York’s, and the U.S.’s, finest pre-Nirvana indie rock bands—and remain one still!