Spectrum

STG Presents Spectrum at Chop Suey on Thursday, April 21, 2011.

Spectrum is the most high-profile and straightforward of the projects undertaken by Pete “Sonic Boom” Kember after the demise of the trance-rock avatars Spacemen 3. As his work as a member of the Experimental Audio Research coterie allowed Kember the opportunity to explore ambient textures and tonal constructs, Spectrum satisfied the singer/guitarist’s more conventional pop leanings, while never losing sight of the hypnotic otherworldliness which became his music’s trademark and legacy. The name Spectrum initially appeared as the title of the first Sonic Boom solo album, released in 1990 before the break-up of Spacemen 3; a collection of ethereal, nearly formless songs, Spectrum openly acknowledged Kember’s debt to Suicide with its cover of the duo’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Killing My Life.” Meanwhile, the Kember half of the Spacemen 3 swan song Recurring, with its tighter, more structured songs (like the gentle wash of “Just to See You Smile”), offered an even stronger indication of things to come.