ST 37

History

ST 37 was founded in 1987 by bassist S.L. Telles, vocalist Carlton Crutcher, guitarist Joel Crutcher and drummer John Foxworth. Telles (previously part of the punk band Vast Majority) was in the Elegant Doormats, while the Crutcher brothers were in Tulum; Foxworth was in both bands. They were joined by keyboardist Jon Torn of Thanatopsis Throne. The band drew their name from a song by Chrome.

A series of cassette releases was followed by the band's first CD, The Invisible College, in 1992. The next few years saw the release of another album, Glare, the departure of Torn, and some other lineup changes, with Foxworth eventually replaced by drummer Lisa Cameron (then known as Dave), who had previously played with Brave Combo, Glass Eye, Three Day Stubble and Roky Erickson. Mark Stone joined in 1997 on guitar, and the band released their next studio album, Spaceage, in 1998.

That summer, they helped usher in a series of silent film screenings with live accompaniment at Austin's Alamo Drafthouse theater with a performance of their own score for Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis. They later performed another original film score there, for Lang's 1921 film Destiny.

Following the release of two more albums in 1999 and 2000, Carlton Crutcher left to form the band Book of Shadows. Mark Stone left in the late 2000s, while Bobby Baker, a member of the Baby Robots and Rubble, joined as guitarist/vocalist in time for the 2010 release of High and Inside. Later, ST 37 added Chris Cones, formerly of Skullcaster, SubArachnoid Space and How I Quit Crack, on keyboards and electronics. The band continues to perform and record in Austin.

Musical style

ST 37's sound combines several musical styles including space rock, psych, prog, punk, experimental rock and krautrock. In the band's early days, they aimed to combine two major influences: the space rock of Hawkwind and the raw, experimental rock of Chrome. Other influences include the 13th Floor Elevators, Can, Amon Düül II and Butthole Surfers. Their music has been described as "swirling", "multitextured" and "mind-altering space-punk". In 2013 the Austin Chronicle described the band's live performances as "drowning in a haze of guitar and reverb that can drift through cosmically shifting layers of aggressive punk riffs, fuzzed noise, and scalding jams".

Albums

Singles/EPs

Compilations

Selected compilation appearances