Galaxie 500

  • Cambridge, MA
    hometown
  • Alternative
    genre
  • 1987
    started
  • Bio
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About Galaxie 500


Though criminally overlooked in their own lifetime, Galaxie 500 later emerged as one of the pivotal underground groups of the post-punk era; dreamy and enigmatic, their minimalist dirges presaged the rise of both the shoegazer and slowcore movements of the 1990s. The group formed in Boston, MA, in 1986 and was comprised of vocalist/guitarist Dean Wareham (a transplanted New Zealand native), bassist Naomi Yang and drummer Damon Krukowski, longtime friends who first met in high school in New York City before all three attended Harvard University. Wareham and Krukowski initially teamed in the short-lived Speedy and the Castanets, which split after their bass player experienced a religious conversion; upon re-forming, the duo recruited Yang to play bass, although she had no prior musical experience.

Named after a friend's car, Galaxie 500 began performing live throughout Boston and New York before recording a three-song demo tape which they sent to Shimmy Disc honcho Kramer, who agreed to become the trio's producer. After bowing in early 1988 with the singles "Tugboat" and "Oblivious" (the latter track featured on a flexi-disc included in an issue of Chemical Imbalance magazine), they issued their full-length debut, Today, which highlighted the group's distinct, evolving sound pitting Wareham's eerie, plaintive tenor, elliptical songs, and slow-motion guitar textures against Yang's warm, fluid bass lines and Krukowski's lean drumming.

After signing to the U.S. branch of Rough Trade, Galaxie 500 issued its defining moment, 1989's evocative On Fire, a remarkably assured and rich record including the superb singles "Blue Thunder" and "When Will You Come Home." After a limited-edition 7" release featuring live renditions of the Beatles' "Rain" and Jonathan Richman's "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste," the group returned in 1990 with This Is Our Music, a diffuse collection spotlighting the wry, sunny single "Fourth of July" and a haunting cover of Yoko Ono's "Listen, the Snow Is Falling." Following a subsequent tour, Galaxie 500 disbanded after Wareham phoned Yang and Krukowski to say he was quitting the group.

A few months later, after Wareham formed his new band, Luna, Rough Trade went bankrupt, and with the label's demise went the trio's three albums, as well as their royalties. In 1991, at an auction of Rough Trade's assets, Krukowski purchased the master tapes for the group's music, and five years later the Rykodisc label issued a box set containing Galaxie 500's complete recorded output; a previously unreleased 1990 live set, dubbed Copenhagen, followed in 1997. In the meantime, after first resurfacing under the name Pierre Etoile, Krukowski and Yang later recorded as Damon and Naomi; additionally, the duo served as the rhythm section for the Wayne Rogers-led Magic Hour. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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Music

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  • Blue Thunder
    galaxie-500
    Video
    Blue Thunder
  • Fourth of July
    galaxie-500
    Video
    Fourth of July
  • 68662
    SoundStream
    SoundStream
    song name
    0:00
    Audio powered by
    All the music you want, just 10 bucks a month. Try it free.
    • Tugboat
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/9/0/7/1/1/172811709.mp3
    • Fourth Of July
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/9/6/4/1/1/172811469.mp3
    • Spook
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/3/4/5/1/1/172811543.mp3
    • Hearing Voices
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/6/8/1/1/1/172811186.mp3
    • Summertime
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/0/5/4/1/1/172811450.mp3
    • Instrumental
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/8/0/0/1/1/172811008.mp3

Photos

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  • Rough Trade
    Galaxie 500
    Rough Trade

News

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  • Galaxie 500
    Galaxie 500 Reissue All Three Studio Albums On Vinyl
    prefixmag.com
    with bonus tracks and videos. You can order these classic records directly from the band, and each will run you about $25, or you can pick up all thre...
    Read More
  • Galaxie 500
    Galaxie 500 Reissue Albums on Vinyl
    www.pitchfork.com
    Before their breakup at the dawn of the 90s, the dream-pop trio Galaxie 500 recorded three studio albums of hazy, shimmery indie rock and inspired a c...
    Read More
  • Galaxie 500
    Deluxe Galaxie 500 Reissues Due
    www.pitchfork.com
    to Waste On Fire Special Edition: CD1 (On Fire): 01 Blue Thunder 02 Tell Me 03 Snowstorm 04 Strange 05 When Will You Come Home 06 Decomposing Trees 07...
    Read More
  • Galaxie 500
    Dean Wareham Tours Galaxie 500
    www.pitchfork.com
    Photo by Nathan Wind Last month, we reported that former Galaxie 500 frontman Dean Wareham would play a set of all Galaxie 500 songs this September in...
    Read More
  • Galaxie 500
    Dean Wareham to Play Galaxie 500 Songs at One-Off Atlanta Show
    www.pitchfork.com
    -off show this September-- without his former bandmates. The show, billed as "Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500", goes down September 17 at the Earl in A...
    Read More
  • Galaxie 500
    Ryan Adams Covers Galaxie 500
    stereogum.com
    So many covers today! Here's another one: Ryan Adams, playing live at Boston's Orpheum this weekend, doing a lovely solo-piano cover of Galaxie 500′s ...
    Read More
  • Galaxie 500
    New Book Documents the Story of Galaxie 500
    pitchfork.com
    A new book about Galaxie 500 is out this week, compiled by Pitchfork contributor Mike McGonigal and out via his own Yeti Publishing. Titled Temperatur...
    Read More

Discography

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  • This Is Our Music (1990)
    Galaxie 500
    This Is Our Music (1990)
    Ryko Distribution
  • On Fire (1989)
    Galaxie 500
    On Fire (1989)
    Rough Trade
  • Today (1988)
    Galaxie 500
    Today (1988)
    Rykodisc USA
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