Whorl
Whorl started in 1987 as Big Jesus Trash Can, driven by a love for The Birthday Party, early Sonic Youth and the Jesus & Mary Chain to pick up guitars and make a noise of their own. Starting with no musical background whatsoever the results were often improvised noise jams, using basic Stooges-style riffs as jumping off points into sonic mayhem. Live shows followed, in basements and small clubs filled with baffled noise-loving folk. The noise jams gradually coalesced into repeatable songs and the idea of documenting themselves arose.
Seeing the name Wharton Tiers listed as producer on the back of some favorite Sonic Youth and Pussy Galore LPs, Big Jesus followed their mates Powderburns up to NYC to try their hand at making a record. The result was their "Mind Revolution" 7" single. Somewhere between recording and releasing the single the band jettisoned their Birthday Party-derived name in favor of the less-derivative Whorl.
Several years of playing around DC followed, with a one notable jaunt to NYC to play CBGBs with their mates dustDevils. Sharing stages with folks as varied as Unrest, The Wedding Present, Nation of Ulysses, Helmet and countless others, Whorl's love of pop developed apace, resulting in their later recordings having a much more melodic bent. Final recording sessions at the legendary Inner Ear studios yielded a tune for Simple Machines' "Neapolitan Metropolitan" box set and the two songs featured on their Maybe It's Better Slumberland 7". The band called it quits in 1991, with members moving on to Nord Express, The Saturday People and a slew of other bands.