by chuck bell
Most people have probably never heard of Christie Front Drive. They existed for less than 3 years, and did not even release a proper full-length while together. However, despite the fact that the band never even came close to approaching the mainstream, they managed to heavily influence several bands that have sold millions of records. Having been equally influenced by the post-hardcore angularity of Jawbox and the melodic alternative of Buffalo Tom, Denver natives Ron Marschall (drums), Jason Begin (guitar/vocals), Eric Richter (guitar/vocals), and Kerry McDonald (bass) formed Christie Front Drive in 1993. By 1994, they released their first self-titled EP and a 7″ on Freewill Records. The band’s popularity began to grow, but they still were not able to put an entire album together. They continued to release singles and EPs over the course of the year, which were eventually compiled into their first self-titled record, which is often referred to as “Anthology.”
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In 1995, Christie Front Drive had joined the ranks of the mid-90’s midwest emo all-stars, and put together split EPs with Sineater, Boy’s Life and Jimmy Eat World. It is rumored that Capitol Records were originally interested in Christie Front Drive, but upon their refusal of the deal, Capitol flipped the 7″ over and made the offer to Jimmy Eat World. These splits, along with several compilation contributions, were the last pieces of music that they would release as a band. Their first and only proper full-length (also self-titled, but often called “Stereo”) did not come out until early 1997, even though the band officially broke up in May of 1996. It is a shame that the band did not stay together to tour on the strength of these songs, because this was the best music that they had written during their brief existence. The album is frequently discussed as being the primary influence for Jimmy Eat World’s touchstone record, Clarity.
Since the breakup, all of Christie Front Drive’s members have been involved in projects that have kept them in a state of indie rock obscurity. Marschall and Begin started a new band called the Blue Ontario. Marschall has also done some tangential work as a member of Jimmy Eat World-side project, Go Big Casino, as well as receiving an engineer credit on the Apples in Stereo’s, The Discovery of a World Inside the Moon. Begin also performs solo under the name the Body, and currently is playing with Portland’s Pirate Radio Deluxe. Richter moved to Brooklyn and formed the electronic group Antarctica, as well as two post-punk bands, Golden City and the 101. All four members reunited for a single show at Denverfest III on September 1, 2007.
