Seam

Active between 1991 and 2000, Chicago band Seam were the definition of “quietly influential,” their powerful but restrained guitar rock predicting future waves of slowcore, Midwest emo, and angular indie rock. Seam’s lineup shifted several times before solidifying in 1994, with vocalist/guitarist Sooyoung Park leading the band through each iteration. They produced four albums and a handful of singles and other errant releases in their near-decade run, standing as a prime example what was happening in the American underground in their era, and evolving from the moody dynamics of early work like 1993’s The Problem with Me into sounds that were both sharper and more refined on 1998’s The Pace Is Glacial, their final album. Seam began as a trio out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with Sooyoung Park (guitars/vocals) and Lexi Mitchell (bass) of Bitch Magnet and Mac McCaughan (drums) of Superchunk. Their first album, Headsparks, released in 1992, was filled with the slow, affecting melodies and vocals that would become their trademark. After the release of that record, McCaughan left the group to pursue Superchunk full-time, and the rest of Seam relocated to Chicago. Bob Rising replaced McCaughan, and Craig White joined on as an additional guitarist, turning Seam into a quartet. Their 1993 full-length The Problem with Me featured this new lineup and slightly more upbeat sounds along with an emphasis on loud-soft dynamics. Are You Driving Me Crazy, released in 1995, would be the first Seam album recorded with the lineup that constituted the band for the remainder of their time being active. Along with Park, Seam from 1994 onward consisted of drummer Chris Manfrin, bassist William Shin, and guitarist Reg Shrader, though Shrader would leave in 1998 after the recording of the band's last album, The Pace Is Glacial. After a tour of South Korea in 2000, Seam disbanded, with Manfrin going on to drum for Bottomless Pit, and Park playing in new bands Ee and Bored Spies. ~ Heather Phares & Fred Thomas, Rovi