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Acetone

About Me

Largely passed by in the alternative music sweepstakes of the mid-'90s, Acetone pursued indie rock with influences from two of their Southern California forebears, the Beach Boys and Gram Parsons, with plenty of the Velvet Underground thrown in as well. Officially formed in 1992 by guitarist Mark Lightcap, bassist Richie Lee and drummer Steve Hadley, the group had actually existed as early as 1987, when the trio began playing around Los Angeles. After working for several years with a succession of vocalists, the group decided to keep it a threesome. After just a few months of recording demos, the band signed to the up-and-coming Vernon Yard subsidiary of Virgin Records (also the home of Low and the Verve) and in 1993 released their debut album Cindy, a collision of aggressive neo-psychedelia with pastoral harmonies reminiscent of the Velvets' third LP. Though Acetone toured in a quite visible role as support for the Verve, the album sputtered under a glut of similar-sounding releases. By 1995, the group had turned in a new direction, translating their affinity for roots rock and country into I Guess I Would, a seven-track mini-LP of inspired cover tracks, including the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Juanita" and the Kris Kristofferson chestnut "Border Lord." Though alternative rock was beginning to hit the trails of their roots-rocking ancestors, the album again failed to connect with listeners. The trio then recorded their second full-length, If You Only Knew, which charted a course between the aggression of the first album and the twang of I Guess I Would. Dropped from Vernon Yard in 1997, however, Acetone moved to the independent Vapor Records for their third, self-titled album. York Blvd. followed three years later. The album was critically acclaimed as a creative high point of the band's career, but it was followed by tragedy when Lee died after an apparent suicide on July 23, 2001, less than a year after its release. we'll remember them forever if we listin. Richie Lee once said that if you just stop thinking when your hearing the band like "what is this? i have to know what kind of music is this or else im not going to like it" just listin and you'll like it. Acetone hang out with Spiritualized, Oasis, Verve, and Mazzy Star. I really advise you that you buy thier albums and have a look and hear.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/04/2008
Band Members: Richie Lee: Bass, Vocals, Guitar, Acoustic, Fuzz Guitar
Mark E Lightcap: Guitar, Vocals, Bass
Steve Hadley: Drums, Voice
Influences: Velvet Underground, Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Spiritualized, Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Flying Burrito Brothers, Mazzy Star, Verve, Nick Drake, Jazz, Psychedelic, a little country and surf mixed together
Sounds Like: hear it.
Record Label: Vernon Yard, Vapor Records

My Blog

Acetoned Again

Santa Barbara Independent, Issue 625, 11/12/98 Lo-Fidelity, Psychedelic Band Awaits Full Recognition Oasis opened for them. Garbage, Spiritualized, Mazzy Star, and The Verve have toured with them. The...
Posted by on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:12:00 GMT

Don’t Call Them Slowcore

  Big Takeover, Issue 42, 1998 Modern music is an unusual art form, although it produces as many one-note wonders and lifelong innovators as other art forms, the whole cycle is accelerated. Caree...
Posted by on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:11:00 GMT

Interview

  Moonfire, Stockholm, Sweden, March 31, 1998 Interview with Richie Lee and Mark Lightcap from Acetone. When did your first band Spinout become Acetone?RL: In art school, we played together, me a...
Posted by on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:08:00 GMT

Slow Just Because

Los Angeles' Acetone have been described as 'slow core,' but get that term out of your brainbox right quick. It's to be used when describing bands like the Melvins, Godhead Silo or Grief, and not when...
Posted by on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:07:00 GMT

Dinner With Acetone

Acetone, eccentric cousins of country-rock and spiritual relations of Spiritualized, have a new, self-titled debut out on Vapor Records. Not only that, but they've just finished up a mini-tour of the ...
Posted by on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:05:00 GMT

Quiet Riot

  Willamette Week, Rock Preview, 2/4/98 Acetone overcomes label problems, unruly crowds and Oasismania to release another collection of hushed, refined songs. One night in November, I walked into...
Posted by on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:03:00 GMT

Haikus From The Wild West

Stuck in the middle of New Mexico in the winter of 1996, the members of Acetone found the temperature dropping and their road-worn RV rumbling and lethargic. Inching through the snow-swept city of Alb...
Posted by on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A Young Band

  myLAUNCH, 1/5/98 "I get asked that question every time," muses Acetone leader Richie Lee. After signing a record deal with Neil Young's fledgling label, Vapor Records, it doesn't seem that peop...
Posted by on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:59:00 GMT

Reviews About The Band 2

  BAM Magazine, Issue 523, SoCal Edition 12/5/97 "It's not like me and Neil are sipping snifters of brandy, chuckling and smoking cigars. I've never even met the guy," says Richie Lee, singer and...
Posted by on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:58:00 GMT

Reviews about the band 1

  Toronto Sun, 11/25/97 It's worth tracking down a copy of Acetone's latest album. It might take a minute. The self-titled album by the California group, one of the finer sounding signings to Nei...
Posted by on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:56:00 GMT