SPIRAL JETTY

Spiral Jetty were Adam Potkay, Andy Gesner, and Dave Reynolds, and in the mid- to late-1980s were very popular in New Brunswick and beyond. SJ started out aping the Hoboken sound (Feelies, Bongos), though lyrics tended towards the psychologically dark. You wouldn't know it from hearing their records, which are fine (especially the Feelies' Mercer+Million-produced debut, Tour of Homes), but SJ had a huge, bold live sound that could border on menacing. I wish more of that sound got captured on vinyl, but it probably wouldn't have made a commercial difference in the guitar-vacant 80s. Things might have been different had they arrived post-Nirvana. No question, Spiral Jetty were a great band, but were limited by their disinclination to tour the world. That, and they were such obviously nice guys, it was impossible to believe they were dangerous. On the other hand, in New Brunswick this good/bad image worked in their favor, attracting not just the leather crowd, but a large share of college kids as well (in a friendly jab, David Aaron Clark referred to them as "the band short girls and guys with glasses feel safe slamming to"). Navigate here for a more in-depth profile.

Spiral Jetty promotions were generally primitive and strange affairs. Worth noting is the one featuring the Spiral Jetty itself, listing its building materials ("mud, salt, water, rock" — this phrase was chanted by band and audience during a wild performance by the Great Salt Lakes Orchestra, which included SJ and slew of others). Then there's the angry clown on the "Group Suicide" flyer, very nice; it's clearly an homage to SST's house artist Raymond Pettibon, as is the one for the Maxwell's gig. No idea of what to make of the baseball flyer; it's just disturbing.

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