Biography
Emerging from the loosely affiliated wave of contemporary indie rock acts shaped by foundational shoegaze pioneers such as My Bloody Valentine, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Cocteau Twins, and Slowdive—alongside later examples like Ringo Deathstarr and Asobi Seksu—San Francisco’s Foxtail Somersault evokes the precise sound that would have dominated college radio airwaves around 1990. After relocating from Los Angeles to San Francisco, guitarist Seiken Nakama established the group in 2004. Following the classic route of placing notices on Craigslist, he assembled singer, guitarist, and lyricist Catherine Howland, whose dreamy, helium-pitched vocal approach sits squarely in the post-Liz Fraser shoegazer lineage, along with lead guitarist James Spadaro, bassist Brian Anderson, and drummer Mark Dungey. The resulting sound merges ambient pop threads stretching from Brian Eno’s initial solo work through to present-day post-rock acts including Broken Social Scene and Explosions in the Sky. Their first EP, Fathom, appeared as a self-released title during spring 2007.