Biography
New York's Fly Ashtray operated over many years without generating a large catalog, functioning as a crew of off-kilter pop eccentrics whose stylistic territory aligned most closely with Pavement and Thinking Fellers Union Local 282. Their signature approach centered on broken pop constructions whose melodies sat beneath dense blankets of lo-fi noise, paired with a playful psychedelic bent and a detached, absurdist comedic tone. Traces of British Invasion pop, new wave, the ringing alternative guitar textures associated with R.E.M. and Television, and the experimental outliers spanning the Red Krayola through the Residents all surfaced within the quartet's wide-ranging sonic mix. Their relaxed pace in the studio played a role in limiting wider recognition, since fresh recordings often required years to surface and typically appeared on tiny, hard-to-find imprints; at the same time this relaxed method produced a relaxed, occasionally inconsistent appeal that some reviewers noted among the albums they encountered.
The group originated in 1983 at Fordham University in the Bronx section of New York City, with initial participants singer/bassist/guitarist John Beekman, guitarist/bassist Chris Thomas, and guitarist/bassist Mike Anzalone. Keyboardist/guitarist/bassist/singer James Kavoussi and drummer Eric Thomas, Chris's brother, soon entered the lineup. Their earliest release arrived only in 1987 as the 7" single "The Day I Turned Into Jim Morrison," followed by a short contribution to ROIR's New York Scum Rock compilation in 1989. Although little had reached the public, the musicians had tracked material sporadically throughout the 1980s and assembled a self-released cassette-only collection of that era's work titled Nothing Left to Spill in 1990. The cassette coincided with the four-song EP Extended Outlook on See Eye and the 7" single "President Stoned." Another 7", the three-track "Soap"/"Bip"/"Feather," appeared in 1991. By then Eric Thomas had exited to relocate to Japan and Mike Anzalone had withdrawn to focus on Kavoussi's parallel project Uncle Wiggly; drummer Glenn Luttman stepped in, reducing the band to a quartet.
Clumps Take a Ride, their initial proper full-length, surfaced on Kramer's Shimmy Disc imprint in 1991 and gathered recordings from the prior three years, among them the emblematic track "Ostrich Atmosphere." The EP Let's Have Some Crate came out on the British label Hemiola in 1992, and after ten years together the band finally issued its first album of entirely fresh material, Tone Sensations of the Wonder Men, on Shimmy Disc in 1993. Following this burst of productivity the group entered a multi-year pause while Kavoussi pursued solo work as pHoaming Edison. Fly Ashtray resurfaced in 1997 with the Flummoxed EP, their debut release for the indie Dark Beloved Cloud. In 1998 Beekman departed and bassist/guitarist/banjoist David Abel, also of Autobody, took his place. A third full-length, Sawgrass Subligette, arrived in 1999 and incorporated contributions from Abel's associate Jim Abramson, an Autobody colleague who also played drums in Dymaxion. Fifth Beetle put out the long-delayed EP Stop the Zockos in 2002, though the recordings dated to 1995. The next year Glenn Luttman left and Autobody/Drumhead percussionist Eric Marc Cohen replaced him.
The group originated in 1983 at Fordham University in the Bronx section of New York City, with initial participants singer/bassist/guitarist John Beekman, guitarist/bassist Chris Thomas, and guitarist/bassist Mike Anzalone. Keyboardist/guitarist/bassist/singer James Kavoussi and drummer Eric Thomas, Chris's brother, soon entered the lineup. Their earliest release arrived only in 1987 as the 7" single "The Day I Turned Into Jim Morrison," followed by a short contribution to ROIR's New York Scum Rock compilation in 1989. Although little had reached the public, the musicians had tracked material sporadically throughout the 1980s and assembled a self-released cassette-only collection of that era's work titled Nothing Left to Spill in 1990. The cassette coincided with the four-song EP Extended Outlook on See Eye and the 7" single "President Stoned." Another 7", the three-track "Soap"/"Bip"/"Feather," appeared in 1991. By then Eric Thomas had exited to relocate to Japan and Mike Anzalone had withdrawn to focus on Kavoussi's parallel project Uncle Wiggly; drummer Glenn Luttman stepped in, reducing the band to a quartet.
Clumps Take a Ride, their initial proper full-length, surfaced on Kramer's Shimmy Disc imprint in 1991 and gathered recordings from the prior three years, among them the emblematic track "Ostrich Atmosphere." The EP Let's Have Some Crate came out on the British label Hemiola in 1992, and after ten years together the band finally issued its first album of entirely fresh material, Tone Sensations of the Wonder Men, on Shimmy Disc in 1993. Following this burst of productivity the group entered a multi-year pause while Kavoussi pursued solo work as pHoaming Edison. Fly Ashtray resurfaced in 1997 with the Flummoxed EP, their debut release for the indie Dark Beloved Cloud. In 1998 Beekman departed and bassist/guitarist/banjoist David Abel, also of Autobody, took his place. A third full-length, Sawgrass Subligette, arrived in 1999 and incorporated contributions from Abel's associate Jim Abramson, an Autobody colleague who also played drums in Dymaxion. Fifth Beetle put out the long-delayed EP Stop the Zockos in 2002, though the recordings dated to 1995. The next year Glenn Luttman left and Autobody/Drumhead percussionist Eric Marc Cohen replaced him.
Albums
