Quasi

Quasi emerged from Portland, Oregon in 1993 as the post-divorce project of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, transforming personal wreckage into skeletal indie rock that rejected the era's grunge bombast. Coomes' Rocksichord, a modified electric keyboard, became their signature timbre, threading mournful melodies through Weiss's propulsive drumming. Their sound sits uncomfortably between lo-fi intimacy and art-punk angularity, drawing from Velvet Underground's detachment and Wire's economy.

Albums like Featuring "Birds" (1998) and Field Studies (1999) on Up Records captured a Pacific Northwest insularity distinct from riot grrrl or Sub Pop's flannel-clad bombast. When Weiss joined Sleater-Kinney, Quasi continued as her parallel outlet, releasing Sword of God (2010) and American Grime (2014) that sharpened their class critique without abandoning melodic craft. Breaking the Balls of History (2023) arrived after Weiss's departure from both band and marriage, yet their catalogue endures as sardonic documentation of American malaise, too idiosyncratic for mainstream absorption, too melodically assured for complete obscurity.