Seattle 1993 was the famous grungy playground for dudes in beer-stained flannel while Portland, Oregon, was the scrappy underdog that no one cared about (read Chelsey Johnson’s recent Stray City to feel the vibe) but had an ace music community. It was a place where bands like Hazel and Heatmiser recorded in damp basements. The Spinanes were Portland OGs singer-guitarist Rebecca Gates and drummer Scott Plouf, who met via mutual friends and started playing music together a few months before their performance at the legendary International Pop Underground Convention in Olympia, WA, in 1991, and were snapped up by Sub Pop in the post-Nirvana feeding frenzy. Gates was a guitar manipulator more artful and poetic and sensual than her peers, with a voice full of emotion and warmth - a deep, distinct standout among the samey girly-girls. Plouf was a powerhouse drummer, with a giant collection of shades and enough mod swagger to make Paul Weller proud. Like slightly scruffy, slightly glam thrift-store siblings, the Spinanes came off as smart and serious. When they recorded their debut album, Manos, with Brian Paulson at AmRep in Minneapolis, they brought a ridiculous amount of energy. A college radio hit, Manos was characterized as indiepop or indie rock or “alternative,” but also had a touch of art rock, folk, emo, math rock, postrock, even jazz, nearing the same spiritual spaceas ’90s bands like Unrest, Sebadoh, and Versus.

LP+ - Opaque Yellow Vinyl includes photo booklet of ephemera of the era and Download.

LP - Black Vinyl includes photo booklet of ephemera of the era and Download.