Artist: Ursa MinorTitle: Smoke
Release: 1997
Label: Abraham Records
Track List:
1. Smoke
2. When Ships Set Sail
3. Goodnight
I picked this record out of a bargain bin based solely on the cover. It screamed mid 90's emo at me. And guess what, it sounds exactly like Mineral, The Gloria Record, and Knapsack. I love that about emo bands from that time. You can tell exactly what the music is gonna sound like based on the cover. Obviously to an extent that's true with a lot of bands. But with 90's emo it just seems more so for some reason.
That being said, if you've listened to the more popular examples of the genre then you probably know exactly what to expect. Quietly sung vocals, mildly dissonant but not unpleasantly so guitars, and a subtle hint of a keyboard buried somewhere in the mix that occasionally stands out loudly. All played at a speeds shifting between drudgingly slow to just a pace above mid-tempo.
I could not find a damn thing about Ursa Minor on the internet. My guess is that they probably only did this record and maybe one or two others. They probably didn't tour much or at all. And they probably never tried to make a name for themselves. If I had to guess, they were probably just college friends who played for a few years then went their separate ways after graduation. Nowadays with the ubiquitousness of the internet bands like that tend to leave a bit more of a record behind. But even in the 90's it's entirely possible that not a single word about Ursa Minor ever made it to the internet. Being the nerd that I am, to me there's something sad about that.
The 7" came with a small insert with the track listing. It says the record was recorded at Wintersound by Bob Gurske in the fall of 1997. I looked him up. It appears he's retired from recording now. Wintersound is in Gloucester Point, Virginia. The address for the record label says Charleston, South Carolina. So my guess is that they're either from Virginia, South Carolina, or somewhere nearby.
Download: Ursa Minor - Smoke (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload
Download: Ursa Minor - Smoke (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire
4 comments:
they were a virginia beach/ norfolk based band. all the members were/are in other notable bands too such as Candyland Carcrash, Owltian Mia, Words a Game, Crash Smash Explode, Her Sparkle Dims, VCR, 1888, Monchichi and so many more.... thanks for posting this... its such a great 7"...
So random that I found this. I was 17 when we made this and it was the only record we made.
Thanks for posting this... As Rob noted, they were from Virginia Beach and Norfolk, and shared some members with other notable local bands. I knew a few of them through mutual friends, and helped them record a demo CD in (I think) the drummer's garage in the spring or summer of 1997 with some lo-fi equipment I had at the time, but I don't think it ever got released for anything other than getting a few local gigs before they broke up/moved on to other projects.
Until stumbling upon your blog, I wasn't aware they had released any real studio recordings. They were a great band, and I still fondly listen to that demo I recorded from time to time.
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