Numero Group

The 1993 split point between pop punk and emo is no better illustrated than by Garden Variety’s self-titled debut. While Billy and Bivouac flirted with the mainstream, this Long Island trio proposed at the post-hardcore prom. Muscular octave guitar chug with a side of late night zine work at the local diner. Backbeat heartbreak, hold the FX. Thank Charles Maggio for your favorite record next time you see him at the Paramus mall.

Clive Davis is in the Epstein Files... The Abe Epstein Files. We have a letter from Mr. Davis kindly reminding San Antonio's own powerhouse of musical promotion Abe Epstein about the little things. Only spent a few minutes digging around here today but uncovered a real treasure chest of stuff to share soon. I don't really have anything else to contribute about Clive but if you need some tunes to bang today, look to San Antonio. That city could use some good vibes this week...🏀🎼🗃️

“You don’t know at 17 that you’re not always going to be in bands with your best friends.”

Led by charismatic tweemo heartthrob Sam Steinberg on guitar and vocals, alongside Jeff Pinn on bass and Craig Erickson on drums, Allure emerged from Cupertino’s mid-’90s basement emo ecosystem barely out of high school and running on equal parts enthusiasm as did were exhaustion. “My drum set would usually come apart, and multiple pieces would be scattered around the room,” Erickson said. “We played two or three times a week with the intention of fatiguing ourselves so much that all we wanted to do was eat pizza and tell jokes.”

What began as a mediocre Jawbreaker tribute quickly morphed into a semi-competent emo upstart after lead guitarist Tim Tetiva joined in the spring of ‘94, when the quartet began experimenting with the loud/quiet recipe. Their music was built on arpeggiated guitars, blown-out dynamics, and emotional overdrive, sitting somewhere between admiration and imitation of their heroes Indian Summer. Their sets were short, loud, and fueled by a youthful urgency that ignored the fact they’d have to do it all again the next day.

After a handful of South Bay shows and a brief tour with Indian Summer, the band entered Bankers Hill Studios in July 1994 to record what would become their final statement. By then, tensions were already high and the session captured a band exhausted, frenetic, and on the verge of falling apart. “I intentionally started to play more dissonantly and more aggressively in order to complement his more beautiful guitar playing,” Sam said of Tetiva. “At some point, Tim decided that he didn’t like that idea.”

caption continued in comments

Coincidence? Nope... and now you finally have a reason to venture into Manhattan. When Numero Group sets up shop in a city, the local athletic teams will win the big championship, a fact simple as Newton's Law of Gravity or the other guys thing about relativity. You too could also make the big brain decision and stop by our shop after the celebration tomorrow and start balling like the pros. Come get slammed.

Probably the best before and after you’ll see on your feed today…

After ten years of rattling around in the back of trucks on cross-country pop up tours, being left out in storms, and flying to the other side of the world (not sure if this is true, can change if not), our Numero Factory Outlet sign finally got a makeover.

One of the best parts of setting up shop in New York has been meeting and collaborating with so many talented people and artists. When we announced we were coming to NYC, Signs by 'n' Olive Panter reached out and offered to help us reimagine our sign.

Completely hand-drawn and hand-painted, you can stop and check out the intricacies in person. Our NYC Factory Outlet is open every Wednesday through Sunday from now until September 7th.

Girl groups were often dismissed as unsellable, unmarketable, a passing fad. The ageism, sexism, and racism of this era left many of these young women with little ability to advocate for their own talents, and plenty were quick to write them off as a gimmick.

In 2018, we assembled a collection of underground girl groups, hoping to immortalize them and their stories amid the mutability of young womanhood. The project became a survey of the prospects and possibilities of teenage girl life. Through these songs, we glimpse all the impossible doors that had to open, again and again, for these singers to have even a small chance. Just as importantly, we see what a feat it was to overcome the certainty of those sealed girlfates.

We have a ton more girl group songs in the vault, is time for a Basement Beehive part two?

“Like a lot of fairytales, our story was short, but still so full of magic and meaning,” said Courtney Miller, lead singer of Eldritch Anisette.

Formed in Newark, Delaware in 1996, Eldritch Anisette grew out of earlier local projects including Clevinger and Network 34, emerging through the tight-knit Enoch Collective scene alongside bands like Boysetsfire. Courtney Miller (vocals), Allen Hitchens (guitar), Marc Krupanski (bass), and Tim Nichols (drums) first came together as part of a DIY community of musicians, friends, and show organizers. They were putting on $4 shows in VFW halls, churches, and community spaces, their first show took place in April 1996 at Girls Inc.

The band’s name came from a blend of “eldritch” (meaning strange or otherworldly) and “anisette” (a Mediterranean liqueur), a pairing that, as Courtney described, just “sounded cool” but also ended up capturing something intoxicating and uncanny about their music. Their sound reflected the members’ teenage intensity and early-adult introspection, drawing from emo, indie rock, and early screamo influences. “Eldritch Anisette more than any other band I was in was about tapping into and exploring multiplicities of emotion - like really trying to name them, capture them, understand them, and release them. Here we were able to really explore what was under the surface within each of us. The creation we all made felt delicate to me” said bassist Marc Krupanski.

In the winter of 1997, they booked time at Clay Creek and spent two days tracking their six-song oeuvre, at a cost of $100. “Suckerpunch,” “Pessimism Goes To Work,” and “Dissection of Silence” were selected for a 7”, the others relegated to a DAT Rotundo held onto for safekeeping. Allen and Courtney released the one and only 7-inch on their own private-press label, St. Vitus’s Dance. About 1,000 copies were pressed, split them down the middle and assembled by hand.

Eldritch Anisette will be reuniting for the first time since the 90s to play Your Renaissance fest this weekend in California. Who will we be seeing there?