Early history (1991–1995) Singer/guitarist
Eric Bachmann, guitarist Eric Johnson, bassist Matt Gentling, and drummer Mark Price, all originally from
Asheville, North Carolina, formed Archers of Loaf in the early 1990s. Eric Bachmann was a saxophone major at
Appalachian State University before dropping out because he "didn't want to be a high school band director." Their initial release in 1992 was a 45" single, "Wrong" b/w "South Carolina" given away free with issue 1 of
Stay Free! magazine. The band signed with Alias records, and released their second single "
Web in Front" in February 1993; it received moderate college radio airplay. The song was featured in a season five episode of
Beavis and Butt-Head, and was included on the soundtrack of the movie
Mallrats in 1995. Archers of Loaf released their debut album,
Icky Mettle, in September 1993. It was critically well-received, with critic
Robert Christgau awarding his second-highest rating of "A", Bachmann later stated that he and the band did not really consider the offer. The band was still under contract with Alias, and changing labels would put them into considerable debt to Maverick. According to Bachmann, "We already signed a deal [with Alias] and it costs lots of money to get out of these things. If we would have had Maverick buy out our contract, we'd be however many thousands of dollars in debt to them. It's really complex that way and it really didn't make sense to do that". The band had another reason for rejecting the Maverick offer: They did not want to be associated with the other high-profile bands on Maverick. "The other bands [on Maverick] were that bad," said Price at the time. "There are other bands on major labels that are associated with a lot of shit but it's big enough that there are a least a few bands that you like. For us on Maverick, it'd be us and
Candlebox and
Alanis..." In 1996 the band released
The Speed of Cattle, a collection of
B-sides, singles, and
John Peel session tracks. The band almost broke up at this point, due to a general lack of enthusiasm for the continuation of the project. However, after some soul searching, they decided to continue on for the time being. "We thought we'd had too good a time with it, so let's make another record, do another tour, and if there's not another spark, we'll split up after that," said Bachmann of the episode. The album's creative break from the band's previous work may have stemmed from the different writing process used for
White Trash Heroes. According to Bachmann, "Things were laid down one at a time, though we did play a lot of it live, too, but pieced together more perfectly so we could hear when one sound was beginning to get in the way of something else." He continues to play and record. In 2000, Alias released
Seconds Before the Accident. This project was the band's first official live album and was recorded during their final show at the
Cat's Cradle in Carrboro. It was the last album released by the band.
Reunion (2011–present) On January 15, 2011, Archers of Loaf reunited to play an unannounced set at The Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina. They opened for local act The Love Language. On May 29, 2011, they performed at the
Sasquatch! Music Festival outside of Seattle, Washington which was recorded for broadcast and archive by
NPR Music and
KEXP-FM. The band were chosen by
Les Savy Fav to perform at the
ATP Nightmare Before Christmas festival that they co-curated in December 2011 in Minehead, England. On June 25, 2011, the band performed their song "Wrong" on
NBC's
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The band continued to tour throughout 2011 and 2012 while their back catalog was reissued by
Merge Records. Bachmann has stated in interviews that his thought processes around the band have changed over time and that his relationships with the older material are also different: "Essentially, before, when I was a 20-year-old kid playing that stuff, I got some sense of satisfaction or power. I felt confident playing in front of people. Now I don't feel that satisfaction or that power," he said. "The reward I get now is I'm going out and people are enjoying hearing it. My relationship had to change with the songs, and in that light I like all of them." Asked about the band's future plans, Bachmann did not rule out a new album, but noted that it was not something that was on the immediate horizon following the reunion tour. "The worst thing [Archers of Loaf] could do is force something out and have it be a bad version of something we already did. It's going to have to be a forward step. I don't want to recreate the 25-year-old kid writing the songs that I would do now with those three other guys, so we'd have to think that through. They're very good to work with, in that way. It's not out of the question, because everyone thinks the same way. No one wants to do 'Icky Mettle 2.'" In a 2018 interview with Eric Bachmann, he said all of the members of Archers of Loaf are on board with the idea of reforming and making a new record, saying "Oh yeah, everybody wants to do it — I just have to write the songs." In November 2019, the band posted a video on their YouTube channel entitled "The Return Of The Loaf," teasing toward new music. On February 20, 2020, the Archers of Loaf digitally released "Raleigh Days", their first new music since 1998. On July 13, 2022, the Archers of Loaf announced their first LP in 24 years,
Reason in Decline, which was released on October 21, 2022, via Merge Records. With the announcement, they also released a new single, "In the Surface Noise" and announced a week of East Coast tour dates for late November/early December 2022. The single "Screaming Undercover" followed in August 2022, with an animated video created by
Paul Friedrich. ==Discography==