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{{short description|American indie rock band}}
{{Infobox musical artist
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'''Archers of Loaf''' is an American [[indie rock]] band originally formed in [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]], in 1991. The group toured extensively and released four studio albums, one compilation, numerous singles and EPs, and a live album which was released after the band broke up in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/403979-Archers-Of-Loaf|title=Archers Of Loaf|website=Discogs|access-date=2016-04-April 15, 2016}}</ref> In 2011 the band began a reunion tour that coincided with the reissue of four of its albums by [[Merge Records]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Breihan|first=Tom|title=Archers of Loaf Announce Reissue Campaign|url=http://pitchfork.com/news/42711-archers-of-loaf-announce-reissue-campaign/|work=Pitchfork.com|access-date=4 July 4, 2012|date=3 June 3, 2011}}</ref> In July 2022, the band announced the release of their first album in nearly twenty-five years, ''Reason in Decline'', to be released also via Merge Records in October of the same year.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jones|first=Abby|title=Archers of Loaf Announce Comeback Album Reason in Decline, 2022 Tour Dates|url=https://consequence.net/2022/07/archers-of-loaf-reason-in-decline-2022-tour-dates/|work=consequence.com|access-date=2 September 2, 2022|date=13 July 13, 2022}}</ref>
 
==History==
===Early history (1991–1995)===
Singer/guitarist [[Eric Bachmann]], guitarist Eric Johnson, bassist Matt Gentling, and drummer Mark Price, all originally from [[Asheville, North Carolina]],<ref name="ashevillenow.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.ashevillenow.com/arts-entertainment/music-clubs-nightlife/ |title=Introduction to the Asheville Music Scene |author=Hunter Pope |publisher=Asheville Now |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911210443/http://www.ashevillenow.com/arts-entertainment/music-clubs-nightlife/ |archive-date=2010-09-September 11, 2010 }}</ref> formed Archers of Loaf in the early 1990s. Eric Bachmann was a saxophone major at [[Appalachian State University]] before dropping out because he "didn't want to be a high school band director."<ref name="houstonpress.com">{{cite web| url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2003-11-27/music/quit-loafing/ |title=Houston - Music - Quit Loafing! |author= Melanie Haupt |publisher=[[Houston Press]] |date= November 27, 2003}}</ref>
 
Their initial release in 1992 was a 45" single, "Wrong" b/w "South Carolina" given away free with issue 1 of ''[[Stay Free!]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pettediscographies.com/archersofloafsingles.asp |title=Archers of Loaf Discography - Singles - Pette Discographies: A Record Collector's Guide |publisher=Pette Discographies |access-date=2012-10-October 24, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Archers-Of-Loaf-South-Carolina/master/775079|title=Archers Of Loaf - South Carolina|website=Discogs|access-date=2016-04-April 15, 2016}}</ref>
 
The band signed with Alias records, and released their second single "[[Web in Front]]" in February 1993; it received moderate college radio airplay. The song was featured in a season five episode of ''[[Beavis and Butt-Head]]'', and was included on the soundtrack of the movie ''[[Mallrats]]'' in 1995.
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| url=http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2003/09/25/TheStatement/A.Decade.Later.Icky.Mettle.Still.An.IndieRock.Milestone-1418817.shtml
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928015209/http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2003/09/25/TheStatement/A.Decade.Later.Icky.Mettle.Still.An.IndieRock.Milestone-1418817.shtml
| archive-date=2007-09-September 28, 2007| author=Andrew M. Gaerig
| title=A decade later, Icky Mettle still an indie-rock milestone - The Statement
| publisher=[[The Michigan Daily]]
| date=2003-09-September 25, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/icky-mettle-reissue-20110802 |access-date=2013-08-August 22, 2013 |date=2013-08-August 22, 2013 |title=Icky Mettle Reissue / Album Reviews |magazine= Rolling Stone|author=Dolan, Jon}}</ref> and peaked at #18 on the ''[[CMJ New Music Monthly]]'' Top 150 Album charts, charting for 21 weeks.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jy0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17 |author=Grady, Ross |title=The Archers of Loaf want to tell you a few things about their album|journal=CMJ New Music Monthly (Via Google Books) |date=April 1995 |page=18 |access-date=2013-08-August 22, 2013}}</ref> In the 2008 book ''[[The Pitchfork 500]]'' named "Web in Front" one of the top 500 songs of recent decades.<ref>{{cite book| author=Ryan Schreiber| author2=Scott Plagenhoef| title=[[The Pitchfork 500]] |publisher=Fireside| year=2008| isbn=978-1-4165-6202-3|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
 
In 1994, the Archers released the EP ''[[Vs the Greatest of All Time]]''. However, the song "The Greatest of All Time" does not appear on this release but rather the second full-length album, ''[[Vee Vee]]'', released in 1995. ''Vee Vee'' followed a similar template as their previous recordings and featured the track "Harnessed in Slums", which became popular on college radio. The album also garnered significant attention outside the independent music scene, culminating in the band being courted by [[Maverick Records]], a division of [[Warner Music Group]], which the band rejected.<ref name=RS>{{cite web| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/archersofloaf/articles/story/5925134/last_of_the_independents| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120094255/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/archersofloaf/articles/story/5925134/last_of_the_independents| url-status=dead| archive-date=November 20, 2008| title= Last of the Independents: Archers of Loaf| author=Steve Gdula| publisher=Rolling Stone|date= September 18, 1998}}</ref> Bachmann later stated that he and the band did not really consider the offer. The band was still under contract with Alias, and changing labels would put them into considerable debt to Maverick. According to Bachmann, "We already signed a deal [with Alias] and it costs lots of money to get out of these things. If we would have had Maverick buy out our contract, we'd be however many thousands of dollars in debt to them. It's really complex that way and it really didn't make sense to do that."<ref name="furious.com">{{cite web| url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/archers.html| title=Archers of Loaf interview| author=Jason Gross |publisher=Perfect Sound Forever| date=December 1996}}</ref> The band had another reason for rejecting the Maverick offer: They did not want to be associated with the other high-profile bands on Maverick. "The other bands [on Maverick] were that bad," said Price at the time. "There are other bands on major labels that are associated with a lot of shit but it's big enough that there are a least a few bands that you like. For us on Maverick, it'd be us and [[Candlebox]] and [[Alanis Morissette]]..."<ref name="furious.com"/>
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Gentling said of the experience, "We knew we wanted to take a long time on this album. We specifically wanted not to do tracks over and over and over again, but more to work on tone and get all of our instruments down right. We took over a day (just) to get the drums sounding right."<ref name="pub.umich.edu"/>
 
The band toured extensively in support of the record, to limited mass commercial success. Of the tour, Bachmann said, "We got back and we were not real happy with the way that [the tour] went. Usually when you finish a tour you have a general idea of a song or two you can start working on, but we got back and were like 'geez, what are we going to do?'"<ref name="beloit.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.beloit.edu/~derrick/archers.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991010173322/http://www.beloit.edu/~derrick/archers.html |archive-date=October 10, 1999-10-10| title=It's Just a Band: a conversation with Eric Bachman of the Archers of Loaf| publisher=Matthew Fluharty| work=Derrick online magazine| author=Matthew Fluharty }}</ref> The band almost broke up at this point, due to a general lack of enthusiasm for the continuation of the project. However, after some soul searching, they decided to continue on for the time being. "We thought we'd had too good a time with it, so let's make another record, do another tour, and if there's not another spark, we'll split up after that," said Bachmann of the episode.<ref name="houstonpress.com"/>
 
Their final LP, ''[[White Trash Heroes]]'', was released in 1998. The album's style deviated drastically from their first three albums, and received mixed reviews from critics.<ref>{{cite web| author=Robert Christgau| date=September 29, 1998| url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv998-98.php| title= Consumer Guide September 1998| publisher= [[Village Voice]] (archived at RobertChristgau.com) }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/cutoutbin/3-archersofloaf.shtml |title=The Cut-Out Bin No.&nbsp;3: Archers of Loaf, ''White Trash Heroes'' (1998) | author=Zeth Luney| publisher= [[Pop Matters]]| date=October 7, 2005}}</ref> The album's creative break from the band's previous work may have stemmed from the different writing process used for ''White Trash Heroes''. According to Bachmann, "Things were laid down one at a time, though we did play a lot of it live, too, but pieced together more perfectly so we could hear when one sound was beginning to get in the way of something else."<ref name="beloit.edu"/> The band went to great lengths in the studio in an attempt to keep the writing from turning stale. For example, on the song "Banging on a Dead Drum," the band members all switched instruments to try to liven up the feel of the song. Johnson plays drums, Gentling plays slide guitar, Price plays bass, and Bachmann still plays guitar, as he was the one who knew the song.<ref name="beloit.edu"/>
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===Post-breakup projects===
Bachmann moved on to multiple solo projects and the band [[Crooked Fingers]]. Gentling went on to provide extra instrumentation on tour with another North Carolina-bred band, [[Superchunk]] as well as a brief stint as live bassist for [[Band of Horses]], the Poles, and [[Analog Moon]]. He has also continued to work with Bachmann as a contributor in [[Crooked Fingers]]. Johnson self-released one EP and one full-length under the moniker "Spookie" (originally Spookie J) and attended law school in North Carolina.<ref name=myspace>{{cite web|url=http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=2159923 |title=Spookie - Asheville, NC - Grunge |author=Eric Johnson |publisher=MySpace.com/spookie |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011001257/http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile |archive-date=2007-10-October 11, 2007 }}</ref> He continues to play and record. In 2000, Alias released ''[[Seconds Before the Accident]].'' This project was the band's first official live album and was recorded during their final show at the [[Cat's Cradle (venue)|Cat's Cradle]] in Carrboro. It was the last album released by the band.
 
===Reunion (2011–present)===
On January 15, 2011, Archers of Loaf reunited to play an unannounced set at The Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina. They opened for local act The Love Language.<ref>{{cite web|last=Modell |first=Josh |url=http://www.avclub.com/articles/archers-of-loaf-played-an-unannounced-reunion-show,50134/?loc=interstitialskip |title=Archers Of Loaf played an unannounced reunion show this weekend &#124; Music &#124; Newswire |publisher=The A.V. Club |date=2011-01-January 17, 2011 |access-date=2012-10-October 24, 2012}}</ref> On May 29, 2011, they performed at the [[Sasquatch! Music Festival]] outside of Seattle, Washington which was recorded for broadcast and archive by [[NPR Music]] and [[KEXP-FM]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Tyler |first=Daoud |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/05/23/136581429/sasquatch-2011-archers-of-loaf-live-in-concert |title=Sasquatch 2011: Archers Of Loaf, Live In Concert |publisher=NPR |date=2011-05-May 30, 2011 |access-date=2012-10-October 24, 2012}}</ref> The band were chosen by [[Les Savy Fav]] to perform at the [[All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)|ATP Nightmare Before Christmas]] festival that they co-curated in December 2011 in Minehead, England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atpfestival.com/events/nightmare2011.php |title=ATP Nightmare Before Christmas |publisher=Atpfestival.com |access-date=2012-10-October 24, 2012}}</ref> On June 25, 2011, the band performed their song "Wrong" on [[NBC]]'s ''[[Late Night with Jimmy Fallon]]''. The band continued to tour throughout 2011 and 2012 while their back catalog was reissued by [[Merge Records]].
 
Bachmann has stated in interviews that his thought processes around the band have changed over time and that his relationships with the older material are also different: "Essentially, before, when I was a 20-year-old kid playing that stuff, I got some sense of satisfaction or power. I felt confident playing in front of people. Now I don't feel that satisfaction or that power," he said. "The reward I get now is I'm going out and people are enjoying hearing it. My relationship had to change with the songs, and in that light I like all of them."<ref name="Partridge">{{cite web|last=Partridge|first=Kenneth|url=http://www.spinner.com/2011/07/05/archers-of-loaf-tour/ |title=Archers of Loaf Show Their 'Mettle' With Reunion Tour, Reissue of Debut LP |publisher=Spinner |date=July 5, 2011-07-05 |access-date=November 2, 2012-11-02}}</ref>
 
Asked about the band's future plans, Bachmann did not rule out a new album, but noted that it was not something that was on the immediate horizon following the reunion tour. "The worst thing [Archers of Loaf] could do is force something out and have it be a bad version of something we already did. It's going to have to be a forward step. I don't want to recreate the 25-year-old kid writing the songs that I would do now with those three other guys, so we'd have to think that through. They're very good to work with, in that way. It's not out of the question, because everyone thinks the same way. No one wants to do 'Icky Mettle 2.'"<ref name="Partridge"/>
 
A live concert documentary ''[[What Did You Expect? (film)|What Did You Expect?]]'', capturing the band's August, 2011 performances at The Cat's Cradle was released in 2012. The film was directed by [[Gorman Bechard]]. In 2015, the band released the double album Curse of the Loaf, which is the [[Brian Paulson]] produced concert audio from the documentary. The deluxe package also featured the original poster from the two nights at Cat's Cradle, as well as a copy of the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/archers-loaf-releasing-new-live-double-album-playi-218978|title=Archers Of Loaf releasing new live double album, playing shows to celebrate|website=[[The A.V. Club]]}}</ref>
 
In a 2018 interview with Eric Bachmann, he said all of the members of Archers of Loaf are on board with the idea of reforming and making a new record, saying "Oh yeah, everybody wants to do it — I just have to write the songs."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Khanna |first1=Vish |title=Archers of Loaf Return! New Music "Is Happening" Says Eric Bachmann |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/archers_of_loaf_return_new_music_is_happening_says_eric_bachmann |publisher=Exclaim! Media |access-date=23 July 23, 2018}}</ref> In November 2019, the band posted a video on their YouTube channel entitled "The Return Of The Loaf," teasing toward new music.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2066034/archers-of-loaf-tease-first-new-music-in-22-years/news/ |title=Archers Of Loaf Tease First New Music In 22 Years |last=Breihan |first=Tom |date=November 25, 2019 |website=[[Stereogum]] |access-date=November 27, 2019}}</ref>
 
On February 20, 2020, the Archers of Loaf digitally released "Raleigh Days", their first new music since 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archers-of-loaf-share-raleigh-days-first-new-song-in-over-20-years/ |title=Archers of Loaf share "Raleigh Days," first new song in over 20 years|last=Pearis |first=Bill |date=February 20, 2020 |website=[[Brooklyn Vegan]] |access-date=February 20, 2020}}</ref>
 
On July 13, 2022, the Archers of Loaf announced their first LP in 24 years, "''Reason in Decline''," will be released on October 21, 2022. With the announcement, they also released a new single, "In the Surface Noise"<ref>{{Cite web |title=News |url=https://www.archersofloaf.net/news |access-date=2022-07-July 15, 2022 |website=Archers of Loaf |language=en-US}}</ref> and announced a week of East Coast tour dates for late November/early December 2022. The single "Screaming Undercover" followed in August of 2022, with an animated video created by [[Paul Friedrich (comic artist)|Paul Friedrich]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mergerecords.com/news/5736 |title=Archers of Loaf release new video for "Screaming Undercover" from 'Reason in Decline' out October 21 |date=August 23, 2022 |website=[[Merge Records]] |access-date=September 2, 2022}}</ref>
 
 
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*"Screaming Undercover" (Merge, 2022)
 
==PopIn popular culture==
* In the ''[[Archer (2009 TV series)|Archer]]'' three-part episode "Heart of Archness" main character Sterling Archer names his [[lacrosse]] team the "Archers of Loafcrosse".
* The Archers of Loaf song "South Carolina" was featured on the soundtrack of the TV show ''[[My So-Called Life]]''.
* The Archers of Loaf song "Web Inin Front" was featured on the soundtrack of the movie ''[[Mallrats]]''.
* Mentioned in the song "[[Jerks of Attention]]" by Australian indie rock group [[Jebediah]].
* The Archers of Loaf song "Harnessed in Slums" was featured on the soundtrack of the moviefilm ''[[The Boys Club]]''.
* Lyrics from the Archers of Loaf song "Chumming the Ocean" are featured in the song "I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light" by Long Island alternative rock band [[Brand New (band)|Brand New]].
* A poster of Archers of Loaf is seen in Josh's room in the 2000 film ''[[Road Trip (film)|Road Trip]]''.
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