The other band to precursor U.S. Maple (Track 3 from The Miracle of Levitation) is the indie band Diaper. Diaper released their only album The Brown Suit in 1994 on Weed Records.
Diaper is a throwaway band name. The band itself was probably intended to be just that: a little project pulled together by friends and a will to just "make a record" in your early 20s. Drummer Pat Samson and guitarist Todd Rittman had already played together with The Mercury Players and would later form U.S. Maple. Rittman recruited high school friend and cellist Kera Schaley (previously of dOUBT) to round out the trio. The recording was rushed, the release push nearly non-existent and the "album-release tour" a couple of concerts in Chicago and Athens. As presaged by their name, the album fell into obscurity.
Despite this, the three together sound cohesive and well-practiced. They embrace the minimal spareness of their band's makeup and recording space: a barn, mostly. They create a very direct record, as a result, without much semblance of production. The guitar is simultaneously ominous and glittering; the cello welcoming and fragile. The songs, like a lot of early 90s indie songs, find themselves in love with dissonance and minor chords and sound more like variations on a musical theme. Even with the band members' respective musicianship, their songs can turn plodding in these variations and the cello lilts towards the lullaby. It's only when Schaley or Rittman embrace the noisier potential of their instruments, like the concluding breakdown on the instrumental "Off" or the quite funny opening strums on "J Mascis Is God," that Diaper keeps the album from becoming comatose. The lyrics match the sonic mood, sung alternatively by Schaley and Rittman. They're dark, brooding and sarcastic; or so I've read. I couldn't make out half the lines as the vocals are much too low in the mix. In the end, there's not enough ambition or inspiration to elevate the album beyond a local curio, but the band never really intended it to be anything but that—and it's certainly more valuable than just a diaper.
All information here about Diaper comes from Kera Schaley's point of view through a (much needed) interview conducted in 2010 by Evan LeVine writing for his blog Swan Fungus. In his article, he's uploaded a couple songs if you want an idea of what the band sounds like.
Here is the discography for Diaper:
Box of Headaches (compilation album of unreleased recordings by dOUBT)
Hollywood or Bust (1992 single by The Mercury Players)
Don't Run, It's Your Dreamgirl (1992 EP by The Mercury Players)
Wrong (1994 single by Double Boar)
The Brown Suit
"Judas's Payment" by dOUBT
"Bliss" by Martyr & Pistol
Pass the Headphones!!
