Tree Fort Angst was an indie pop

Indie pop

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

 band that was originally a solo project of former St. Christopher

St. Christopher (band)

St. Christopher are a British indie pop band formed in York in 1984, who released several records on Sarah Records in the late 1980s, and have continued to release records since.-History:...

 guitarist Terry Banks.

History

Banks began working as Tree Fort Angst in 1991, when he released a cassette-only album. This was followed by an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 in 1992 on the German label 'A Turntable Friend', Six Songs. TFA then expanded to a full band with the addition of John Gotschalk (bass) and Hunter Duke (drums). Although the band only released a handful of further EPs and singles during their time together before splitting up in 1994, their output was collected on two posthumous compilations.

Banks lists among his influences Postcard Records

Postcard Records

Postcard Records is a Glasgow-based independent record label founded by Alan Horne in 1979, as a vehicle for Orange Juice and Josef K releases. The label's motto was "The Sound of Young Scotland", a parody/tribute to the Motown motto; its logo featured a cartoon cat beating a drum...

 bands Orange Juice

Orange Juice

Orange Juice was a Scottish post-punk band founded in the middle class Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. Edwyn Collins formed the Nu-Sonics with his school-mate Alan Duncan and was subsequently joined by James Kirk and Steven Daly, who left a band called The Machetes. The band...

 and Aztec Camera

Aztec Camera

Aztec Camera were a Scottish New Wave band from the Glasgow suburb of East Kilbride, formed in 1980 and centered around teenage singer-songwriter, Roddy Frame. Their album Love was among the nominations for Best British Album at the 1989 BRIT Awards....

, The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, The Jam

The Jam

The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...

, Everything But The Girl

Everything but the Girl

Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...

, The Go-Betweens

The Go-Betweens

The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...

, The Smiths

The Smiths

The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...

, and The Chills

The Chills

The Chills are a guitar and keyboard-based rock band from Dunedin, New Zealand. In the 1980s and 1990s, they were one of the proponents of the Dunedin Sound.- History :...

.

Banks later joined Glo-worm and The Saturday People, while Gotschalk joined the Red Hot Lava Men. Duke is now a member of Hotel X

Hotel X

Hotel X is a world music/jazz group founded in 1992 in Richmond, Virginia by Tim Harding and Ron T. Curry as a setting to explore electric bass duets. Hotel X was quickly joined by a host of Richmond, Virginia underground music scene veterans and released six albums on the Los Angeles based SST...

.

Singles

• Six Songs 7" EP (1992) A Turntable Friend
• Buzzing With Beauty and Wonder 7" EP (1992) Velodrome
• "Parting Kiss" 7" flexi-disc (1993) Ad Lithium Pop
• Tilting at Windmills EP (1994) Bus Stop
• "Hope" (1995) Stickboy

Albums

• Fifteen Songs of Vim and Vigor (cassette) (1991) (self-released)
• Knee Deep in the Rococo Excess of Tree Fort Angst (1997) Bus Stop
• Last Page in the Book of Love (2002) Foxyboy

Compilation appearances

• "Parting Kiss", on CMJ New Music Report CD album (1991) CMJ
• "You Should’ve Seen The One That Got Away", on One Last Kiss CD album (1992) Spin Art
• "Trampoline", on Burning The Midnight Firefly cassette/fanzine (1993) BTMF
• "Miss You Essay", on Stars On Ice cassette/fanzine (1993) Traumatone
• "Trampoline", on A Love Like Lead cassette/fanzine (1993) Lionhead Fountain
• "Trampoline", on Something Pretty Beautiful CD album (1993) Brilliant
• "Fin De Siecle", on Calling At Duke Street split 7" EP (1993) A Turntable Friend
• "Back In Your Life", on Can You Talk To The Dude? (Jonathan Richman covers CD) (1994) Alienor
• "Tuesday", on Pop Culture Press 4 CD (1997) PCP
• "Hope", on A Boy, A Girl, and A Rendezvous CD (2001) Red Roses For Me

External links

• Schabe, Patrick (2003) "TREE FORT ANGST Last Page in the Book of Love review", PopMatters
  PopMatters
  PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...