Biography
Useless Eaters emerged as a trashy lo-fi garage rock outfit when Memphis native Seth Sutton, a protégé of garage punk legend Jay Reatard, assembled the project in 2008. Blending raw first-era punk rock with low-tech synthesizer squalling, Sutton began as a one-man band and generated a steady flow of material that appeared on 7" singles, starting with the 2009 release “Sucked In” on Goner Records, which involved Mr. Reatard. Between 2009 and 2011 the act issued seven singles before the German imprint P. Trash Records put out the debut album Zulu in 2011, by which point Sutton had moved from Memphis to Toronto. Tic Tac Totally Records followed before the year ended with the second album Daily Commute and also issued Cheap Talk: The Singles, a compilation drawn from the early 45s.
Restless by temperament, Sutton spent periods in Nashville, Germany, and Australia while maintaining an unceasing recording pace alongside a shifting roster of players. Further albums arrived in the form of C'est Bon! in 2012 and Hypertension in 2013, accompanied by ongoing singles. In 2014 Sutton headed to California and made San Francisco his base, where he secured a rehearsal and recording space and assembled a semi-permanent lineup that included Byron Blum on guitar, Miles Luttrell on drums, and Brendan Hagarty on bass and guitar, with Sutton handling lead vocals plus guitar, bass, drums, and keys. He also gained a new mentor and occasional collaborator in Ty Segall and aligned with Castle Face Records. The 2014 Castle Face album Bleeding Moon reflected the slightly more refined approach of this configuration, while the more aggressive concert style was captured on 2015’s Live in San Francisco. The group maintained its momentum with another studio effort, Relaxing Death, released by Castle Face in mid-2016.
Restless by temperament, Sutton spent periods in Nashville, Germany, and Australia while maintaining an unceasing recording pace alongside a shifting roster of players. Further albums arrived in the form of C'est Bon! in 2012 and Hypertension in 2013, accompanied by ongoing singles. In 2014 Sutton headed to California and made San Francisco his base, where he secured a rehearsal and recording space and assembled a semi-permanent lineup that included Byron Blum on guitar, Miles Luttrell on drums, and Brendan Hagarty on bass and guitar, with Sutton handling lead vocals plus guitar, bass, drums, and keys. He also gained a new mentor and occasional collaborator in Ty Segall and aligned with Castle Face Records. The 2014 Castle Face album Bleeding Moon reflected the slightly more refined approach of this configuration, while the more aggressive concert style was captured on 2015’s Live in San Francisco. The group maintained its momentum with another studio effort, Relaxing Death, released by Castle Face in mid-2016.
Albums
Singles
