Lowsunday

It's been observed that while the bleeding edge of what's cool continues onward, there are always plenty of people still exploring styles long deemed outdated, sometimes finding something new and exciting as a result. Such is the case with Pittsburgh's Lowsunday, led by open fan of '80s British post-punk rock Shane Sahene. Drawing inspiration from such pioneers of emotional, thrilling music as the Sound, Bauhaus, the Chameleons, and Echo and the Bunnymen, vocalist/guitarist Sahene originally formed and led the group in the mid-'90s as a quintet called Low Sunday Ghost Machine. At that point, the other members were guitarist Scott Bechillion, Dale Reckless on keyboards, drummer J. P., and bassist Marc Turina. Thus constituted, the band swiftly gained a passionate following for its dramatic if still slightly derivative music in its hometown, resulting in a self-released self-titled debut that captured its passionate strengths excellently and helped bring the group to wider attention. The next few years saw a shakeup in the group, resulting in the shortening of the name to Lowsunday and Sahene, leading a completely new version of the band: Shawn Leslie on guitar, drummer A. T. Vish, and, joining later, Bobby Spell on bass. Without Spell, Lowsunday recorded its strong follow-up Elesgium, showing Sahene and company building on the strengths of the debut to create a more original, complex sound. A growing reputation in the shoegaze/goth music underground was cemented with the band's signing to Projekt Records in early 2001; Elesgium was re-released soon thereafter, while the quartet, with Shawn Bann replacing Leslie, made more plans for the future.