Music Style rock

Artist History Tarpit formed in 1991 and quickly started writing and recording original music. They also began playing out late in 1991, with a residency at Club Stodola, a punk rock Polish neighborhood club where Tarpit worked out stage moves, feedback strategies and audience banter. The band was spotted by Red Red Meat frontman Tim Rutili, who asked Tarpit to open for RRM at Lounge Ax, one of Chicago's premier venues. After this defining gig, Tarpit regularly began playing at Chicago's best clubs, including Metro, Double Door, and Avalon. Tarpit continued to record and their style and sound developed. Their second collection, Lydian, featured the powerful song Brother (found on this site). Tarpit also played the FreeFest for the first time in 1993, beginning a 3-year run at Chicago's unique outdoor showcase for local talent. Hooking up with three other bands, they formed Crank Records and issued a nationally distributed compilation, Ultramodern Offspring. The band was also chosen to represent Chicago at the 1995 Mississippi River Music Festival. Tarpit released a number of vinyl 45's in subsequent years and continued to play live until 1997.

Group Members Tony Frank -- drums; Tiffany Seybert -- guitar, vocals; Ed Seybert -- bass; Chris LeSueur -- guitar

Press Reviews "Female vocals. Heavy shit. But not too metallic. Not too arty/noisy. Not too fast. Not too screamy. Not too melodic. Just loud, hella rad punk." (Maximum Rock N Roll) "It is truly refreshing in an environment embracing alternative frauds like the Stone Temple Pilots and Candlebox, and ballyhooing the return of punk via the likes of the Offspring, that people like Tarpit continue to exist. A couple 'o' punk tunes bashed out without any pretense to high art, without any affected allegiance to a particular fashionable resurgence -- that's what you get here, and, dammit, that's all you need...All you sneering, neo-punk, mall-rat knuckleheads take notice; in a knife fight with Green Day I'm siding with these folks." (Tail Spins) "...Tarpit flexes some garage-rock muscle on its recordings, four-piece odes to screwed-up relationships and other modern urban ills. They aren't slick but get the job done, which really describes what the band itself is all about: not re-creating the wheel, but making it move." (Mississippi River Music Festival Guide) "Here's some evil punk with plenty of personality...Tarpit definitely cranks." (Showcase Chicago) "Standout tracks include the Sonic Youth squawk of Tarpit's 'Brother'..." (FreeFest '93 review, Jim DeRogatis -- Chicago Sun-Times) "...Energy and heavy garage riffage that is very addictive...adventurous, manic, loud and catchy." (Illinois Entertainer) "They have successfully combined memorable vocals with equally memorable guitar lines producing a quality that many bands lack -- a lasting impression...Tarpit builds jams that reach crashing peaks as they charge through their changes with savage intensity." "...hard, strong, raw, mean, kind of ugly, and really, really cool." (FreeFest Monthly)

Location Chicago, Illinois - USA

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