Biography
Math and Physics Club came together as an indie pop outfit in Seattle during 2004, when guitarist James Werle and vocalist Charles Bert—already partners on multiple prior recordings—began collaborating with drummer Kevin Emerson, violinist Saundrah Humphrey, and bassist Ethan Jones. Their sound recalled the Smiths, the Field Mice, and Belle and Sebastian, prompting Matinée to sign the group before 2004 concluded. The label issued the debut EP Weekends Away in February 2005; the release generated substantial critical attention and received steady airplay on Seattle’s KEXP throughout that year. Demonstrating rapid productivity, MAPC delivered a second Matinée EP, Movie Ending Romance, by the middle of summer 2005. Roughly a year afterward the band unveiled its self-titled debut album, recorded under the guidance of producer Kevin Suggs, and supported the record with a modest East Coast tour. Following a brief pause early in 2007, they returned that summer with the Matinée EP Baby I’m Yours.
After an extended hiatus from recording, Humphrey and Emerson departed the lineup, although Emerson continued contributing drums on subsequent releases. I Shouldn’t Look as Good as I Do appeared in early summer 2010. The group visited the U.K. for shows in 2011 before heading into Dub Narcotic Studio to track its next album. Produced by longtime bassist Jones alongside Bob Schwenkler, Our Hearts Beat Out Loud reached stores via Matinée in late 2013. That same year the band issued the single “Long Drag,” followed in 2014 by a split single shared with former Lucksmiths member Mark Monnone. Another period of inactivity ensued, during which Bert launched the project Unlikely Friends alongside BOAT’s D. Crane and Chris McFarlane, the latter having previously served as MAPC’s drummer; Unlikely Friends released the album Solid Gold Cowboys in 2015. Meanwhile Math and Physics Club resumed writing, placing one new composition, “Coastal California, 1985,” on the 2016 compilation In This Together—a joint Matinée and Fika Recordings collection that gathered early EP tracks, non-album cuts, and previously unreleased material.
The band soon returned to the studio with producer Chris Hanzsek, whose background included running C/Z Records at the height of grunge, to shape a fuller, more forceful sound that retained the group’s characteristic melodic sweetness and gentle melancholy. After the late-2017 single “All the Mains are Down” and a short Australian tour alongside labelmates Last Leaves, the fourth album Lived Here Before appeared once again on Matinée and Fika.
After an extended hiatus from recording, Humphrey and Emerson departed the lineup, although Emerson continued contributing drums on subsequent releases. I Shouldn’t Look as Good as I Do appeared in early summer 2010. The group visited the U.K. for shows in 2011 before heading into Dub Narcotic Studio to track its next album. Produced by longtime bassist Jones alongside Bob Schwenkler, Our Hearts Beat Out Loud reached stores via Matinée in late 2013. That same year the band issued the single “Long Drag,” followed in 2014 by a split single shared with former Lucksmiths member Mark Monnone. Another period of inactivity ensued, during which Bert launched the project Unlikely Friends alongside BOAT’s D. Crane and Chris McFarlane, the latter having previously served as MAPC’s drummer; Unlikely Friends released the album Solid Gold Cowboys in 2015. Meanwhile Math and Physics Club resumed writing, placing one new composition, “Coastal California, 1985,” on the 2016 compilation In This Together—a joint Matinée and Fika Recordings collection that gathered early EP tracks, non-album cuts, and previously unreleased material.
The band soon returned to the studio with producer Chris Hanzsek, whose background included running C/Z Records at the height of grunge, to shape a fuller, more forceful sound that retained the group’s characteristic melodic sweetness and gentle melancholy. After the late-2017 single “All the Mains are Down” and a short Australian tour alongside labelmates Last Leaves, the fourth album Lived Here Before appeared once again on Matinée and Fika.