The Veldt

The Veldt operate as a soul-infused rock unit situated on the more intense side of shoegaze, though their foundation remains dream pop while they draw equal recognition for propulsive riffs and emotive vocals. Fronted by identical twin brothers Daniel Chavis and Danny Chavis, who openly referenced Echo & the Bunnymen and Public Enemy among their influences during early interviews, the group encountered persistent misunderstanding from their late-'80s inception onward. Hailing from North Carolina, they emerged as outsiders amid successive waves of regional underground acts and shared scant common ground with the dB's, Let's Active, Superchunk, or Archers of Loaf. Although formed in 1986, six years elapsed before their recorded debut arrived via the Marigolds EP, with the first album Afrodisiac following in 1994. Their pivotal single "Soul in Jar" received remixes from the Jesus and Mary Chain and Diamond D, pioneers respectively in noise-pop and boom-bap hip-hop, illuminating the band's inherently elusive yet organic sonic identity. Intermittently active since the mid-'90s, the Veldt later morphed into Apollo Heights during the early 2000s. Entropy Is the Mainline to God represented their studio return in 2022. The following year they assumed control of a long-shelved album originally produced by Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie and titled it Illuminated 1989 to mark its recording date.

Raleigh natives Daniel Chavis on vocals and guitars together with Danny Chavis on guitars established the Veldt in 1986 after playing in separate bands; Marvin Levi on drums and Joseph Hue Boyle on bass completed the lineup. Their stylistic blend found little favor on the local frat-party circuit, yet Capitol nevertheless signed the band and an album was tracked under Robin Guthrie's production. A Capitol personnel shift installed an unsympathetic A&R executive, resulting in the project's cancellation and friction with manager Jay Faires. The band then secured a more workable arrangement with Polygram. Without Boyle, they cut the Marigolds EP for Polygram subsidiary Stardog—originally created for Mother Love Bone—using Moose's Lincoln Fong as producer and bassist; the 1992 release spotlighted the driving track "CCCP." With Dave Burris now on bass and Ray Shulman of A.R. Kane and the Sugarcubes handling production duties, the Veldt moved to Mercury and delivered Afrodisiac in 1994. Several tracks, "Soul in a Jar" among them, appeared primed for alternative radio success, yet only a dedicated audience of open-minded listeners embraced the material.

Outside major-label channels the Veldt issued the demo collection Universe Boat in 1996. Danny Chavis and Burris eventually exited, succeeded by Sam Clowney and Des White, who appeared on the quietly released 1998 album Love at First Hate on the band's own End of World imprint. After relocating to New York City, the Chavis brothers later anchored Apollo Heights while ultimately reviving the Veldt alongside guitarist Frank Olson and Apollo Heights collaborator Hayato Nakao on bass and programming. The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur: The Drake Equation, their first release in nearly two decades, surfaced in 2016; its closing track was produced by Rudy Tambala, whose work with A.R. Kane had long ranked among the band's touchstones. Thanks to the Moth and Areanna Rose arrived in 2017, an EP containing two songs produced by Robin Guthrie and another remixed by Tambala. Following additional short-form releases, Entropy Is the Mainline to God emerged in 2022 as a set of cerebral rock tracks that included a contemporary reading of the Impressions' "Check Out Your Mind." Illuminated 1989, the previously unreleased album intended as the Veldt's debut, was issued the next year after Guthrie handled remastering.