Hoover

Hoover came together in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 1992 and disbanded less than two years later in the spring of 1994, yet the quartet left an indelible mark on post-hardcore. Initially dismissed as a Fugazi imitation, the group actually delivered tense, jagged, and foreboding sounds—perhaps even influencing the later direction of Fugazi—through the singular rhythm section of bassist and vocalist Fred Erskine alongside drummer Chris Farral, paired with the ferocious dual guitar and vocal attack from Joe McRedmond and Al Dunham. Two blistering 1993 singles quickly established Hoover among the capital’s most compelling newcomers. Their sole Dischord release, the February 1994 album The Lurid Traversal of Route 7, confirmed that promise by fusing Drive Like Jehu’s relentless drive, the quiet-loud contrasts first tested by Slint and later refined by Mogwai, and the three vocalists’ raw, cathartic words into a lasting force.

After a tour supporting the album, the band returned to D.C. in April 1994 and declared its dissolution. McRedmond and Erskine formed Crownhate Ruin, which folded following the 1995 album Until the Eagle Grins, while Erskine later joined June of 44. Dunham started Regulator Watts and Albilene. In 1997 Hoover briefly reconvened to lay down the final four songs they had written prior to splitting; those tracks appeared as a self-titled EP on Slowdime in 1998.