Silkworm

Silkworm originated as a noisy, bracing post-punk band from Seattle, though its members first assembled in their hometown of Missoula, Montana, during 1987. The initial lineup featured vocalists and guitarists Andy Cohen and Joel Phelps alongside vocalist and bassist Tim Midgett and drummer Ben Koostra, all of whom had previously played in Ein Heit. From the start the group proved prolific and stylistically wide-ranging, with every member except Koostra writing material; after Koostra departed in 1989 the remaining three issued their first cassette, Advantage, the previous year and followed it with the 1989 tape Girl Harbrr plus its companion Girl Harbrr Out-Takes EP. In the first weeks of 1990 the trio relocated to Seattle and enlisted Michael Dahlquist on drums.

The band’s first proper album, L’ajre, appeared in 1992 and highlighted an increasingly dissonant style built around Midgett’s driving bass lines. The EP His Absence Is a Blessing arrived the next year, after which the quartet joined the C/Z roster and released In the West in 1994, an album tracked by fellow Montana native Steve Albini, who would helm most of their subsequent recordings. Libertine followed later in 1994 and earned strong notices, yet Phelps soon exited; he re-emerged in 1996 as Joel R.L. Phelps with the solo album Warm Springs Night. Continuing as a trio, Silkworm moved to Matador and delivered Firewater in 1996, a wide-ranging but precisely crafted set widely regarded as their strongest work to that point. Developer came out in 1997, and the following year the band shifted to Touch & Go for Blueblood while completing its move to Chicago. Lifestyle surfaced in the middle of 2000, and the group toured in support through the next year. Two years later Italian Platinum arrived, featuring guest vocals by Kelly Hogan and keyboard contributions from Matt Kadane of the New Year. The 2004 album It’ll Be Cool proved to be their final release. In July 2005 Dahlquist and two other Chicago musicians died when their car was hit by a driver who had deliberately set out to end her own life.