South Seattle in the mid-1990s was an industrial wasteland. On Airport Way, there was a large "diesel" sign with the last three letters burned out, leaving giant 10 feet tall red letters that said "DIE". This was the birthing grounds of Bend Sinister, a crucial step in the evolution of A FRAMES and INTELLIGENCE.
Erin Sullivan (guitar/vocals), Min Yee (bass), and Josh Turgeon (guitar) had previously tried out the names Impatiens and The Bends, playing their brand of obsessive, noise-drenched punk in some of Seattle’s most notorious dive bars and clubs. In 1997, they joined up with drummer Steve Kaplan and mutated into BEND SINISTER, after a song by The Fall, a key influence.
Bonded by a love of black humor and scuzzy, dirgy, hypnotic, aggressive, punk, garage, and noise, Bend Sinister drew from a range of musical influences: The Scientists, The Fall, Stick Men With Ray Guns, Cows, Touch & Go,