Factrix

Post-punk band Factrix formed in 1978 and featured Joseph T. Jacobs (bass, vocals), Bond Bergland (guitars, vocals), and Cole Palme (electronics, vocals), the latter two of whom had performed with Patrick Miller's Minimal Man. Like their European industrial brethren (Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten), Factrix augmented a typical rock band's instrumentation with found percussion and tape manipulation. Their unrelentingly bleak, experimental sound would have been at home on like-minded labels like Mute and 4AD but, being from San Francisco, their resources were relatively restricted and had less reach. During their five years together, they managed to record a single ("Empire of Passion" b/w "Splice of Life") and a pair of albums, 1981's Scheintot and 1982's California Babylon (the latter recorded with Monte Cazazza). Obscure enough to lack coverage in the '70s/'80s underground bible Trouser Press, the band's highest profile admirer is probably Julian Cope. Most of their studio recordings, along with some previously unavailable live recordings, were compiled for CD on Artifact, a 2003 release from Germany's Storm label.