Henry's Dress

City of Origin: Albuquerque, NM, USA

Period of Activity: Mid-1990s

Members: Linton, Matt Hartman, Hayyim Sanchez

Related Artists: The Aislers Set, Go Sailor, Coachwhips (non-indiepop)

Discography:

Social Media: Bandcamp

Henry's Dress is one of my all-time favorites when it comes to bands who make a whole lot of noise. For a while, I couldn't figure out what exactly it was that made them stand apart from other bands of their ilk, but I think I've finally figured it out: it's that it's not the guitar which provides form to any of the songs. Take, for example, their song "Sally Wants", off their self-titled EP. On first listen, it sounds like any other shoegaze song of the era. But as you become more familiar with it, you start to realize that the thin sheet of guitar noise isn't nearly as all-encompassing as shoegaze guitars attempt to sound; instead, it's the (undistorted!) bassline which provides that swirling, woozy atmosphere you've been noticing. And on their more raucous moments, it's once again the bass which provides the bulk of the noise, with the guitar providing some accents around the margins. Most of the time, when people are talking about Henry's Dress, we're talking about Linton, and possibly the Aislers Set. But to me, when we're talking about Henry's Dress, we should be talking about Hayyim Sanchez more often. He's the one who made it all work, after all.

P.S. If you're a Shins fan, you may be interested in knowing that they, under their former name of Flake, put out a split single with Henry's Dress. From what I can tell, it looks like James Mercer particularly admires Linton's abilities.