Venus Beads

During the early-'90s grunge upheaval, the guitar-heavy trio Venus Beads slipped through the cracks. Rob Jones handled vocals and guitar, Anthony Price played guitar, and Mark Hassall sat behind the drums; the group formed in England and surprised observers by enlisting ex-House of Love guitarist Terry Bickers—who had already reached near-mythic standing among U.K. critics thanks to his former band—to co-produce their first album, Incision. Drawing from the shoegazer movement that predated Nirvana, the Venus Beads adopted Ride’s signature dreamy guitar layers and elevated vocal harmonies, then infused the mix with punk energy. College radio gave spins to “Moon Is Red,” yet neither England nor the United States embraced the band. Their releases, among them the follow-up LP Black Aspirin, quickly landed in remainder bins and stayed there.