Black Tambourine

Black Tambourine were one of the earliest Slumberland groups, consisting of members of Whorl and Velocity Girl, plus their pal Pam Berry on vocals. Conceived as an explicitly pop band at a time when indie pop bands were pretty rare in America, Black Tambourine wore their influences on their sleeves: The Jesus & Mary Chain, of course, but also folks like Phil Spector, Smokey Robinson, Love, The Ramones, Shop Assistants, The Pastels, 14 Iced Bears, Orange Juice and the list goes on… Formed in Washington, D.C. in 1989, Black Tambourine comprised vocalist Pam Berry, guitarists Archie Moore and Brian Nelson (also members of Velocity Girl) and drummer Mike Schulman (also of Whorl); though they only played a handful of live shows during their short lifetime, Black Tambourine issued two 7" singles that are seminal slices of US indie pop. Both singles, plus compilation tracks and one unreleased tune are collected on their Complete Recordings album.