The Black Watch

John Andrew Fredrick remains the sole enduring presence in the veteran California indie rock group the Black Watch. An author and British-culture enthusiast, he earned a doctorate in English from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Since the late 1980s he has issued respected post-punk pop and rock albums frequently likened to the work of My Bloody Valentine, the Cure, Yo La Tengo, the Smiths, Interpol, the War on Drugs, and late-1960s pop. Despite repeated shifts in personnel and record labels after the band formed in 1987, Fredrick’s literary gifts and instrumental abilities earned praise from a small circle of underground writers and a loyal audience; he later highlighted this enduring cult following with the 2019 anthology 31 Years of Obscurity: The Best of the Black Watch 1988-2019.

After completing college, Fredrick assembled the Black Watch’s original lineup. The group cut a short demo, supported the Church and Toad the Wet Sprocket, then largely disbanded. Still in 1987 he recruited fresh musicians, recorded the album St. Valentine, and issued it on his own Eskimo imprint. That configuration soon fragmented, prompting Fredrick to enlist yet another set of collaborators. A pivotal encounter with J’Anna Jacoby—who had played mandolin for John Tesh and Rod Stewart—brought the violinist into the fold as the band’s second permanent member.

The vinyl-only Short Stories EP appeared in 1989, after which Dr. Dream signed the group and released 1991’s Flowering with another new rhythm section. The track “Terrific” received notable airplay on several prominent stations, yet insufficient label support limited the album’s reach. Departing Dr. Dream, the Black Watch moved to Zero Hour for the 1995 Joe Chiccarelli-produced Amphetamines, which again drew favorable notices from those who heard it. Further lineup adjustments preceded the 1997 Seven Rollercoasters EP.

The band paused activity for half a year while Fredrick completed his novel The King of Good Intentions, which Henry Rollins’ 2.13.61 publishing house planned to release until financial constraints intervened. A companion album of the same name surfaced on Not Lame in 1999. Saltwater issued Lime Green Girl the following year, appending seven historical tracks to the record. The Christopher Smart EP arrived in 2001. In 2002 the group delivered what many regard as one of its strongest efforts: Tim Boland produced Jiggery-Pokery, which showcased Fredrick’s songwriting alongside Jacoby’s violin and guitar on cuts such as “The Tennis-Playing Poet Roethke Said” and “What Is the Color of Happiness,” the latter featuring guest vocals from Pat Fish of Jazz Butcher. Very Mary Beth followed in 2003, extending the approach established on Intentions and Jiggery. In 2005 the band put out both The Hypnotizing Sea and The Innercity Garden EP; Tatterdemalion appeared the next year. Their tenth album in twenty years, Icing the Snow Queen, and fifth EP, After the Gold Room, both emerged in 2008.

Album eleven, Led Zeppelin Five, arrived in 2011 and included the brisk guitar rocker “Emily, Are You Sleeping?” together with an unlisted cover of the Beatles’ “It’s All Too Much” tucked after the closing track “Weirdly.” The 27-track double album The End of When was released in 2013, reaffirming Fredrick’s steady productivity and the band’s continued absence from mainstream attention. Sugarplum Fairy, Sugarplum Fairy marked album thirteen for the industrious veterans in 2015; on that record Fredrick performed every instrument except drums.

Throughout the rest of the decade he maintained an intense creative pace, issuing at least one new Black Watch album annually. Among these were 2017’s Robert Campanella (the Brian Jonestown Massacre)-produced The Gospel According to John and 2018’s Witches!. Alongside 2019’s Magic Johnson, Fredrick also supplied two career retrospectives: The Vinyl Years: 1988-1993 and 31 Years of Obscurity: The Best of the Black Watch 1988-2019. Moving quickly onward, he focused on new material and opened 2020 with Brilliant Failures.