Madder Rose

Madder Rose, the New York City outfit built around guitarist Billy Coté, drummer Johnny Kick, bassist Matt Verta-Ray, and guitarist/vocalist Mary Lorson, produced some of the most appealing yet sadly neglected indie rock of the 1990s. The group’s 1993 debut, the lovely Bring It Down, first displayed the attractive pairing of Lorson’s dulcet voice with the eloquent material written by Coté and Lorson; although the record earned critical praise, both it and the equally graceful 1994 follow-up, Panic On, fell short of commercial success. In 1997 the band resurfaced with the trip-hop-inspired Tragic Magic and, two years after that, released the similar Hello June Fool. Those recordings closed the chapter for Madder Rose itself, yet Coté and Lorson’s partnership continued when each participated in the other’s later projects—Lorson forming Saint Low and Coté establishing the Jazz Cannon. Coté and Lorson also issued an album of additional shared work, Piano Creeps, in 2003.