The Standard

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In the summer and fall of 1999, the small crowds who caught The Standard’s early performances around Portland, Oregon, knew they were hearing something different—music at once both challenging and engaging, built around surprising chord changes and abrupt shifts in tempo, moving seamlessly from lyrical keyboard passages to blistering guitar hooks, with vocals that ranged from elusive and haunting to intimate and heartbreaking. The air in those rooms was charged, electric, and no one was more surprised by the sudden surge of energy than the four members of the band itself, who’d come together accidentally, each with wildly differing musical backgrounds and influences. Drummer Rob Duncan had learned his driving punk rhythms from Portland indie bands in the mid-90s; bassist Rob Oberdorfer had recently been playing in esoteric art-rock experiments; Jay Clarke, on keyboards, had studied classical and jazz and had a fondness for ambient music; and Tim Putnam combined a rootsy, poetic songwriting style with big, catchy guitar riffs.

Over the next five years, the band released three full-length albums, all recorded by veteran producer/engineer Jeff Saltzman, each making significant strides in maturity and complexity. Along with a growing reputation for intense live shows, the recordings brought critical acclaim and won over a loyal audience, as well as earning the respect of the many musicians The Standard have supported on tour, bands as varied as Wire, The Shins, The Clinic, Slint, and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.

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Popular tags: indie, indie rock, alternative, shoegaze, tooons  See more

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1		The Swimmer			13
2		Through The Walls			7
3		Sunday Eyes			5
3		Red Drop			5
5		Hotel			4
5		Paper			4
7		Not Asleep			3
7		The Quiet Bar			3
7		Little Green			3
7		You Will			3
11		A Year of Seconds			2
11		In Waves			2
11		How Deep To Cut			2
11		Into The Fall			2
11		Ghosts for Hire			2

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