Biography
The Los Angeles-based trio Permanent Green Light proved short-lived yet distinctive, built around the songwriting and vocal contributions of guitarist Matt Devine alongside bassist Michael Quercio. Quercio, previously a member of the psychedelic pop outfit the Three O'Clock, helped shape a hybrid that fused that group’s ornate melodic sensibility with the swaggering intensity of grunge-era Big Star. Though the band issued only scattered singles, a lone EP, and the 1993 full-length Against Nature before disbanding, the output secured their place as a noteworthy, albeit overlooked, presence within the period’s underground circuit.
Following the Three O’Clock’s 1988 dissolution, Quercio briefly aligned with Scott Miller’s Game Theory during its final phase. The pair considered forming a new project, yet geographic separation—Quercio in Los Angeles and Miller in the Bay Area—prevented collaboration, prompting Quercio instead to assemble Permanent Green Light at home. The name derived from a track on the Godz’s 1967 album Godz Two. Having already performed in an informal group called the Fairy Turnout with guitarist Matt Devine, Quercio formalized the partnership; drummer Chris Bruckner completed the lineup. Their sound incorporated the era’s grunge hallmarks of amplified guitars and forceful drumming while echoing the paisley-inflected tunefulness of the Three O’Clock and the classic power-pop approach of Big Star. Songwriting and vocal duties fell to Quercio and Devine, whereas Bruckner supplied song titles and thematic ideas. Their theatrical, polarizing performances—including an occasion when chocolate-covered fish were hurled at the audience—quickly drew attention, as did the music itself. Bill Bartell subsequently placed the band on his Gasatanka Records roster, which also housed White Flag, Redd Kross, and the Tater Totz, a local supergroup that counted Quercio among its participants. The debut single “We Could Just Die” appeared in 1991. A self-titled EP followed on Rockville Records the next year, closing with the extended acid-rock piece “Chris Drops In (originally titled Against Nature)”; the parenthetical subtitle, borrowed from J.K. Huysmans’s cult novel, later served as the title of the group’s album.
Earle Mankey, who had produced the Three O’Clock’s early recordings, helmed Against Nature, issued by Rockville in late 1993. Devine departed in mid-1995 to concentrate on home recording, eventually joining Medicine and later collaborating with Possum Dixon. Bernard Yin, from Medicine’s touring lineup, took his place, after which Quercio assumed sole responsibility for songwriting and vocals on the 1995 single “You Are the Queen of Market Street.” Although an entire album was tracked with Yin, it stayed unreleased; two songs surfaced instead on the final Permanent Green Light single with Yin, “Hitler with Mascara,” in 1996.
Quercio remained active with the Jupiter Affect, a new project alongside Bruckner, and participated in a reconstituted Three O’Clock during the 2010s, yet Permanent Green Light itself stayed dormant until Omnivore’s 2018 compilation Hallucinations, which gathered singles, album tracks, and demos.
Following the Three O’Clock’s 1988 dissolution, Quercio briefly aligned with Scott Miller’s Game Theory during its final phase. The pair considered forming a new project, yet geographic separation—Quercio in Los Angeles and Miller in the Bay Area—prevented collaboration, prompting Quercio instead to assemble Permanent Green Light at home. The name derived from a track on the Godz’s 1967 album Godz Two. Having already performed in an informal group called the Fairy Turnout with guitarist Matt Devine, Quercio formalized the partnership; drummer Chris Bruckner completed the lineup. Their sound incorporated the era’s grunge hallmarks of amplified guitars and forceful drumming while echoing the paisley-inflected tunefulness of the Three O’Clock and the classic power-pop approach of Big Star. Songwriting and vocal duties fell to Quercio and Devine, whereas Bruckner supplied song titles and thematic ideas. Their theatrical, polarizing performances—including an occasion when chocolate-covered fish were hurled at the audience—quickly drew attention, as did the music itself. Bill Bartell subsequently placed the band on his Gasatanka Records roster, which also housed White Flag, Redd Kross, and the Tater Totz, a local supergroup that counted Quercio among its participants. The debut single “We Could Just Die” appeared in 1991. A self-titled EP followed on Rockville Records the next year, closing with the extended acid-rock piece “Chris Drops In (originally titled Against Nature)”; the parenthetical subtitle, borrowed from J.K. Huysmans’s cult novel, later served as the title of the group’s album.
Earle Mankey, who had produced the Three O’Clock’s early recordings, helmed Against Nature, issued by Rockville in late 1993. Devine departed in mid-1995 to concentrate on home recording, eventually joining Medicine and later collaborating with Possum Dixon. Bernard Yin, from Medicine’s touring lineup, took his place, after which Quercio assumed sole responsibility for songwriting and vocals on the 1995 single “You Are the Queen of Market Street.” Although an entire album was tracked with Yin, it stayed unreleased; two songs surfaced instead on the final Permanent Green Light single with Yin, “Hitler with Mascara,” in 1996.
Quercio remained active with the Jupiter Affect, a new project alongside Bruckner, and participated in a reconstituted Three O’Clock during the 2010s, yet Permanent Green Light itself stayed dormant until Omnivore’s 2018 compilation Hallucinations, which gathered singles, album tracks, and demos.
Albums