Prototype is so excited to host veteran NJ Indie rockers SPEED THE PLOUGH and YUNG WU! We are an artist-built, artist-run live/work/perform arts collective in Paterson, NJ. See you there!
SPEED THE PLOUGH
Speed the Plough is a New Jersey-based chamber pop/indie rock band that has been playing since 1984. The band rose out of the ashes of The Trypes, a mainstay of the early ’80s Hoboken scene, which included most members of The Feelies, many of whom continued with STP through the band’s first decade.
Speed the Plough has released 10 full-length albums (on Coyote/Twin-Tone, East Side Digital, Dromedary, and Bar-None Records), a limited edition single on French label Acetone, and a self-released EP. They have had songs featured in two independent films, Strangest Dreams (1990) and Paradise Park (1993).
Their most recent release is 2021’s “Before & After Silence, a collection of the songs recorded and released during the Covid pandemic, with a host of local and long distance contributors. Guests include Mayssa Jallad of Safar, Matt Piucci of The Rain Parade, Tara Key of Antietam, Brenda Sauter and Stanley Demeski of The Feelies, Jon and Deena of The Cucumbers, Rebecca Turner, Scott Anthony, Ed Seifert, Matt Davis, and STP alums John Demeski, Dan Francia, Ian Francia, Marc Francia, Christopher O'Donovan, and Richard Barnes.
The current lineup features founding members John Baumgartner (keyboards and vocals), Toni Baumgartner (woodwinds and vocals), and MarcFrancia (guitar and), Michael Baumgartner (guitar and vocals), Glenn Mercer (percussion and guitar), Dan Francia (bass and vocals) and John Demeski (drums).
As the NY Times described them: “…this is no rarefied art music. It’s a garage-band sort of minimalism, with welters of electric guitar sounds and feedback accelerating madly into crashing crescendos, only to subside and begin building again.”
YUNG WU
The Feelies percussionist, Dave Weckerman, takes center stage as the primary singer / songwriter for Yung Wu, a 1987 Feelies side project that includes Glenn Mercer (guitar and vocals), Brenda Sauter (bass and vocals), StanDemeski (drums), plus John Baumgartner, keyboardist for The Trypes and Speed the Plough, along with guitarist Ed Seifert.
Shore Leave leans towards more acoustic guitars and simplified drumming that trades the Feelies’ neurotic intensity for a more pop gentleness. Produced by Glenn Mercer and Bill Million and originally released on Coyote Records, it was largely overlooked at the time but is considered among Feelies enthusiasts to be an important part of their discography. Shore Leave is a minor classic of 80s jangle pop ripe for rediscovery.
