The dark and dissonant blues-rock band
Come formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1990. The group was led by singer/guitarist
Thalia Zedek -- a recovering heroin addict and veteran of the indie-rock scene whose career included tenures fronting
Live Skull,
Uzi,
the Dangerous Birds and White Women -- and guitarist
Chris Brokaw, also the drummer for
Codeine. Fleshed out by a pair of Athens, Georgia refugees -- former
Kilkenny Cats bassist
Sean O'Brien and onetime
Bar-B-Q Killers drummer
Arthur Johnson --
Come spent its first year of existence improvising and jamming together before recording "Car," a single for the Sub Pop label which made them one of the most highly-touted new acts on the underground scene.
After signing to Matador,
Come recorded their superbly atmospheric 1992 debut
Eleven: Eleven in less than eight days; in 1994, they resurfaced with both an EP, The Wrong Side, and a full-length album,
Don't Ask Don't Tell. After the band backed
Steve Wynn on his solo album
Melting in the Dark, both
O'Brien and
Johnson exited in 1995, leaving
Zedek and
Brokaw to record 1996's
Near Life Experience with two different rhythm batteries; while
Tortoise's Bundy K. Brown and
the Jesus Lizard's Mac McNeilly backed the duo on half of the tracks,
Rodan alumni
Tara Jane O'Neil and
Kevin Coultas provided support on the rest. The excellent
Gently, Down the Stream followed in early 1998.
–
Jason Ankeny, Rovi