Founding American Laundromat Records was founded in April 2004 by Joe Spadaro in
Huntington Village, New York on
Long Island. According to Spadaro, he used a small tax-refund to produce the compilation album
Transistor, which featured eight indie bands contributing two original songs each. The bands, including The Atomic Hep Cats and
AM, were mostly on the East coast.
Transistor had moderate success on college radio. After several more releases, in the summer of 2006 the label relocated to
Mystic, Connecticut. That year the label secured international distribution through
Darla Records. Besides releasing debut EPs, LPs, and compilations, in 2007 ALR began a
7" vinyl series of split singles featuring tracks from the label's network of indie bands.
Label signings In 2005, the label began distributing
Brooklyn-based all-girl indie band the
Caulfield Sisters' debut EP
Say It With Fire. The band was afterwards named one of "NYC’s 10 Bands to Watch" by
Time Out New York. The band was invited to perform on
KEXP's
Morning Show with John in NYC, and opened for
Interpol. In 2009 ALR released Julie Peel's debut album
Near The Sun. After the release Peel received an early invitation to showcase at
SXSW in 2010, and tracks were placed in TV shows such as
CW's
Life Unexpected. The label also releases music by Dylan in the Movies. In late 2013 the label signed a new band: Tele Novella, an indie group based in
Austin, Texas. The pop foursome has members from a number of previous bands: guitarist/vocalist Natalie Ribbons, bassist Jason Chronis, drummer Matt Simon, and Sarah La Puerta. Ribbons was previously with Agent Ribbons, while Chronis and Simon were previously with indie band
Voxtrot. They have a 7" single, "Trouble in Paradise," that came out on April 22, 2014.
Whatever, My Love is an album by
The Juliana Hatfield Three, consisting of Hatfield, drummer Todd Philips, and bassist Dean Fisher. This is the band's first album in twenty two years. The lead single, "If I Could," was released in December 2014 and was premiered in
Rolling Stone.
Film In 2013 American Laundromat Records added a movie section to their website, and began taking orders for the
Criterion Collection release of
Repo Man on
Blu-ray and DVD.
Compilations ;''High School Reunion - a tribute to those great 80's films!'' After the success of the initial 2004 compilation,
Transistor, the label began releasing
indie rock-themed compilations and artist tributes on an almost yearly basis. In the fall of 2005 ALR produced its second record ''High School Reunion - a tribute to those great 80's films!'', featuring indie-rockers such as
Frank Black,
Kristin Hersh, and
The Dresden Dolls, and covering songs from
80's teen films.
All Music Guide called the project "One of the finest tribute records ever amassed," going on to say "let this serve as a blueprint for all future tribute sets."
Pitchfork,
Rolling Stone,
VH1,
Billboard,
Spin,
NME, and other publications covered the project as well. ;Artist tributes (Pixies, Neil Young, Kim, The Cure) Afterwards came
Dig For Fire - a tribute to Pixies, Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Charity and
Gigantic - a tribute to Kim Deal. The projects included contributions by bands such as
They Might Be Giants,
OK Go,
Mogwai, and
The Rosebuds. In 2008 ALR began production on
Just Like Heaven - a tribute to The Cure which was officially released on January 27, 2009. The latter was co-produced by Joe Spadaro, who produced a number of the other compilations as well. It featured covers by artists such as
Tanya Donelly,
The Brunettes, and
Grand Duchy. The album had a positive reception, and acknowledgement from
Robert Smith. ;
Sing Me To Sleep - Indie Lullabies In 2010 ALR released
Sing Me To Sleep - Indie Lullabies, a collection of lullabies and popular songs re-imagined as lullabies by indie artists. All proceeds from the project are donated to The Valerie Fund, a non-profit for children with cancer and blood disorders. Among the artists who contributed are
Dean & Britta,
Say Hi, and
Sigur Rós. Release shows with live performances by
The Leisure Society,
The Real Tuesday Weld,
Tanya Donelly,
Jenny Owen Youngs, and Julie Peel were held in tandem with the release in
London and
New York City. ;The Smiths,
Repo Man Please Please Please: A Tribute To The Smiths was released in late 2011, with tracks by
Elk City,
Greg Laswell,
Cinerama,
Stars, and others, with Spadaro again producing.
A Tribute To Repo Man was released in 2012, featuring artists such as
The Tellers and
Matthew Sweet. The 1984 film had a soundtrack featuring
punk rock by artists like
Iggy Pop and
Black Flag. ;
I Saved Latin! A Tribute to Wes Anderson In May 2014 American Laundromat Records released
I Saved Latin!, a double-CD tribute compilation to film director
Wes Anderson. In November 2013 ALR had opened up their website for pre-orders, selling a "deluxe" edition that includes a vinyl single and various clothing and objects themed to Anderson's films and characters. Among the covered artists are
The Kinks, the
Rolling Stones,
David Bowie and
The Zombies.
Juliana Hatfield covers
Elliott Smith's "
Needle in the Hay," which was used in
The Royal Tennenbaums, while
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin covers "Margaret Yang's Theme" from
Rushmore, which was originally made for the film by
Mark Mothersbaugh. Other covers include
Matt Pond's version of
Nico's "These Days," and
John Lennon's "
Oh Yoko!" by
The Ghost in You. The album was received positively by critics, with
NME calling it "cohesive and pleasingly idiosyncratic," and
Delusions of Adequacy stating that "most of [the songs] embrace a shared autumnal aesthetic, which closely adheres to Anderson’s whimsical vision." ==Artists==