Archers of Loaf: Biography

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• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Videos
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• Superchunk
• Breadwinner
• Polvo
• Built to Spill
• Guided by Voices
• Portastatic
• The Ugly Americans

• Pavement

• Hot IQs
• Plug Spark Sanjay
• Brand New
• The Plastic Constellations
• Saves the Day
• Cursive
• The North Atlantic

• Small 23
• Small
• Crooked Fingers
• Barry Black

• Mark Price
• Matt Gentling
• Eric Bachmann
• Angelic Voices of Faith

Formed:

Jan 1, 1991 in Chapel Hill, NC

Genres:

Rock Music, Alternative Rock Music

Decades Active:

1990's|2000's

Artistic Quality

Low

Cultural Impact

Low

Ratings Guide

Formed in the early '90s, the indie rock quartet Archers of Loaf specialized in an off-kilter, noisy, and surprisingly tuneful brand of alternative rock. The Archers began with Pavement's warped guitar pop sensibilities, adding more sheets of pure white noise and more cryptic lyrics, and played with an often invigorating, reckless sense of fun. The band became a college/underground sensation when the single "Web in Front" became a hit on alternative and college radio in the summer of 1993. They followed it with the acclaimed debut Icky Mettle later in the year; it also received a sizable amount of airplay on college radio. In 1994, the band released two EPs and worked on their second record, Vee Vee, which was released in early 1995; like its predecessor, Vee Vee was a college radio hit, securing the Archers of Loaf's place as one of the hippest indie rock bands of the mid-'90s. Both the rarities collection Speed of Cattle and All the Nation's Airports followed in 1996, and two years later the group returned with White Trash Heroes, their final LP. A posthumous live effort, Seconds Before the Accident, followed in mid-2000.

- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide