Kent 3 were formed in in 1992 in the Seattle area by drummer
Tyler Long, singer Mike Pitts, guitarist Viv Halogen and bassist Adam Grendon.
The band's discography picked up speed While Kent 3 were waiting for Long
to return from college: the five-song EP The Chromies (Bag Of Hammers),
the single Coin Of The Realm (Empty, 1994),
Burl Lives (My Fat Ass), etc.
Mainly, they released their first album,
Screaming Youth Fantastic (Bag Of Hammers, 1994), the manifesto of their
Mudhoney-influenced garage-rock sound.
Estrogen Cruiser and The Sleeper remain two of their classics.
The Kent 3 reformed in March of 1996 but ejected
Pitts and replaced him with Halogen.
The six-song Basketball Medics (Super Electro, 1996) is probably their
masterpiece, a collection of impeccable punk-pop ditties:
Basketball Medics,
Satellite ,
She Had Won A Date,
Crispin Glover,
Shooting Stars.
By comparison, Stories Of The New West (Super Electro, 1997) is
a totally different beast. While still catchy and endearing, its
dark and sparse atmosphere evokes western landscapes and epic endeavours,
more like a movie soundtrack, a Joy Division dirge or a Stan Ridgway ode.
The lengthy Stories Of The New West, the
jazz/gospel/surf instrumental Strangers,
Amateur Motor Race, The Scientist, Mad About The Boy,
have lost the garage-y verve of the beginnings but acquired an almost
philosophical quality.
Peasant Musik (Super Electro, 1998) is just a tad poppier, but basically
offers more of the same dreamy visions
(The Bells Of Saint Lazaro, D.J. Know, The Searcher).
Impeccable but a little predictable, Spells (Burn Burn Burn, 2002)
unleashes the fury of Wigs and 15 Days.