| Enablers | |
|---|---|
| Origin | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | Neurot, Lancashire and Somerset, Exile on Mainstream |
| Website | enablerssf.com |
| Members | |
| Pete Simonelli Joe Goldring Kevin Thomson Doug Scharin |
|
| Past members | |
| Yuma Joe Byrnes | |
Enablers are an indie rock band from San Francisco, California which features the poetry/spoken word of Pete Simonelli.
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In addition to Simonelli, a published poet and writer who was working as a courier in the band's early years, the band's original lineup included Joe Goldring (guitar, formerly of Swans and Toiling Midgets and [concurrent with Enablers] Touched by a Janitor), Kevin Thomson (guitar, Timco, Nice Strong Arm, Morning Champ, and [also concurrent with Enablers] Touched by a Janitor), and Yuma Joe Byrnes (drums, ex-Tarnation/Broken Horse, Touched by a Janitor).[1][2] Enablers' first release the album End Note, released on Neurot Recordings in 2004. In 2006 they released the Output Negative Space album, described by PopMatters as having "a swagger that seems almost malevolent",[2] and a split single with Redpanda. In 2007 they released the single-sided one track twelve-inch single "The Achievement". In 2008 they released the Tundra album, a shared release between Lancashire and Somerset, Majic Wallet, and Exile on Mainstream. The band's latest album is Blown Realms And Stalled Explosions, released in 2011. Doug Scharin, formerly of Codeine, HiM, June of 44, Rex, and Mice Parade, is now the band's drummer.
The band's music, according to Peter Funk, writing for PopMatters "swells on muscular guitar fills, a clanging swirl that ebbs and flows around Simonelli's story", with Funk describing them as "restrained exercises in disgust".[2] Drowned in Sound described the band as a "four-piece of utmost intensity", comparing the band to Slint and Shellac.[3] Drowned in Sound writer Mike Diver described them as "a confrontational band, a visceral beast of eight legs and one mouth that never quits, its stream of freeform hang-loose lyricism owing a debt in style, perhaps, to literary forefathers".[4] Ali Maloney, writing for The Skinny, called the band's music "beat music for the 21st century".[5]