Biography
Mark Ryan, once part of the Denton, Texas punk group Marked Men, conceived the high-energy, ever-morphing garage-punk-pop approach that defines Mind Spiders. After Marked Men entered a period of inactivity, Ryan started developing original material that included his solo effort the Crying Jags. He initially envisioned Mind Spiders as strictly a recording project. Following the release of the first 7" on Dirtnap—the label previously associated with Marked Men—late in 2010, Ryan formed a live ensemble that drew members from other Denton acts tied to the same label, including High Tension Wires, Uptown Bums, and Bad Sports. The self-titled debut full-length appeared in early 2011. The touring musicians accompanied Ryan into the studio for the second album, Meltdown, which delivered a denser, more cohesive sound and compositional approach. The third album, 2013’s Inhumanistic, was tracked by Ryan on vocals/guitar/synth, Mike Throneberry on drums, Daniel Fried on bass, and Peter Salisbury on synth. The record emphasized keyboards more heavily than before along with extensive use of drum machines, with its perspective and textures shaped by Devo, Wall of Voodoo, and vintage horror movies. Mind Spiders pushed further into colder, synth-centric territory on 2016’s Prosthesis. With 2018’s Furies the band maintained its pursuit of a darker, more expansive trajectory, while Ryan’s study of Greek mythology influenced the lyrics.
Albums
