Acetone | Artist
Acetone was an American alternative rock band formed 1992 in Los Angeles, California, Mark Lightcap on guitar, Richie Lee on bass and Steve Hadley on drums. All three members had previously been in the band Spinout. Acetone disbanded after Richie Lee’s suicide at the age of 34, on July 23 2001, having completed Four studio albums. Largely passed by in the rush of mid-'90s indie bands, Acetone honed their sound 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, incorporating genres ranging from neo-psychedelia to roots rock and country into their music. After working for several years with a succession of vocalists, the group decided to keep it a threesome and signed to the up-and-coming Vernon Yard subsidiary of Virgin Records (also the home of Low and the Verve). In 1993 they released their debut album Cindy, a collision of aggressive neo-psychedelia and pastoral harmonies which, despite getting exposure with the band's supporting slot for The Verve on tour, dissapeared in a glut of similar-sounding releases. 1995's follow up I Guess I Would, a seven-track mini-LP of roots rock and country covers, again failed to connect with listeners. The trio then recorded their excellent second full-length album If You Only Knew, which charted a course between the aggression of the first album and the twang of I Guess I Would. Despite the quality of the album, they were nonetheless dropped by their record company and moved on to independent label Vapor Records. Their third, self-titled album, which is arguably their best, and this was followed by York Blvd. three years later. That album was critically acclaimed and marked a creative high point of the band's career, but it was followed by tragedy when Lee died on July 23, 2001, less than a year after its release. After Lee's passing Lightcap went on to play with the group Matmos. In 2017, the respected reissue label Light in the Attic issued 1992-2001, a career-spanning anthology that included several previously unreleased performances. In 2023, New West Records offered a more expansive tribute with I'm Still Waiting, an 11-LP vinyl box set that collected their entire recorded catalog. Standout Acetone albums include If You Only Knew (1995), Acetone (1997), York Blvd. (2001), and the archival releases 1992-2001 (2017), and I’ve Enjoyed As Much of This As I Can Stand - Live At The Knitting Factory, NYC: May 31, 1998 (2024). Hadley and Lightcap formed The Ecstasy of Gold in 2012, releasing their first album Vol. 1 in October 2022. Lightcap also formed the Dick Slessig Combo, with himself on guitar, bassist Carl Bronson, and drummer Steve Goodfriend. Acetone has performed on few occasions since Lee's death, most notably with Mazzy Star's lead singer Hope Sandoval in 2017.
Artist Website: wikipedia/Acetone_(band)
Featured Albums: Acetone
Related Artists: Mark Lightcap
