Tullycraft

Tullycraft embraced the twee pop aesthetic without hesitation, infusing their material with endearing melodies and sharp-witted words. Their initial releases, including the 1996 album Old Traditions, New Standards, came across as loose and unpolished yet remained playful and humorous. By the middle of the following decade the Seattle outfit appeared to mature, turning out Disenchanted Hearts Unite in 2005 and Lost in Light Rotation in 2013, both of which addressed more mature themes while retaining the indie-pop appeal fans had grown accustomed to.

The band coalesced in 1994 after the breakup of Crayon, bringing together that earlier group’s frontman, singer and bassist Sean Tollefson, with drummer Jeff Fell and adding guitarist Gary Miklusek, formerly of Wimp Factor 14. Retaining Crayon’s lighthearted, ramshackle sensibility and Tollefson’s knack for catchy, charming tunes, Tullycraft adopted a somewhat brighter sonic palette, first heard on the 1995 Harriet Records single “True Blue.” Their track “Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend Is Too Stupid to Know About,” featured on Harriet’s compilation The Long Secret, quickly earned cult status. A 1995 Cher Doll 7-inch titled “Bailey Park” preceded their debut full-length, Old Traditions, New Standards, issued in 1996. Additional singles, compilation appearances, and split releases involving Bunnygrunt and Rizzo followed. Before the 1998 album City of Subarus, guitarist and keyboardist Chris Munford joined; Miklusek departed shortly thereafter. Though activity seemed uncertain around 2000, Tollefson, Fell, and Munford recruited lead guitarist Harold Hollingsworth and signed with Magic Marker Records, resulting in the 2002 release Beat, Surf, Fun. After longtime collaborator Jenny Mears became an official member, the group delivered their most mature effort to date, Disenchanted Hearts Unite, in 2005. Every Scene Needs a Center appeared in 2007 with Corianton Hale taking over guitar duties from the departed Hollingsworth, after which the band entered a hiatus. They resurfaced in 2013 with Lost in Light Rotation, produced by Phil Ek. Following another pause they began work on a new project without Fell; Hale and Munford handled instrumental duties while Mears and Tollefson supplied vocals. For the first time the songs were assembled incrementally, with individual parts recorded separately and later combined using mixing assistance from Pete Remine and Larry Crane. The outcome was the band’s seventh album, The Railway Prince Hotel, issued by Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records in early 2019.