American Wrestlers

Emerging seemingly from nowhere toward the end of 2014, the lo-fi indie pop outfit American Wrestlers operated initially as a solitary studio endeavor whose inventive compositions, resourceful low-budget methods, and enthusiastic reception among online indie outlets helped it stand apart. The project originated with Gary McClure, born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland; by the close of the 1990s he had relocated to Manchester, England, where he joined forces with producer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Kay in the band Working for a Nuclear Free City. That group earned critical favor and issued three albums from 2006 through 2010, yet its sales figures fell short of the acclaim, and by 2013 McClure and Kay had begun to disengage as collaborators, prompting McClure to issue the solo album Wreaths. The record achieved only modest traction, leaving McClure uncertain about his next move until he encountered Bridgette Imperial, then studying in the U.K. The pair connected quickly; after she returned to St. Louis, Missouri, McClure traveled to the United States to see her, and the two chose to wed.

Once employed loading trucks for UPS in his adopted city, McClure started sketching new material despite his instruments and gear remaining stored overseas. To capture these ideas he borrowed his wife’s guitar and portable keyboard, purchased a bass guitar and eight-track tape machine from a pawn shop, and captured unpolished yet melodic demos that turned the constraints of the basic equipment and the recorder’s imperfections into creative assets. Under the name American Wrestlers, and without revealing his identity while subtly nodding to his earlier work, he uploaded an eight-song collection to Bandcamp late in 2014 and forwarded links to select writers and reviewers. Momentum soon gathered, particularly around the song “I Can Do No Wrong,” leading Fat Possum Records to offer a deal and issue the Bandcamp material on physical formats in April 2015. With label backing, McClure expanded the roster to include Imperial on keyboards along with Ian Reitz on bass and Josh Van Hoorebeke on drums, while upgrading his recording setup; the resulting album Goodbye Terrible Youth, still textured with fuzz yet more polished overall, appeared in 2016.