A beginner’s guide to the Elephant 6

If you were an avid Pitchfork reader in 1999 (and, face it, you almost certainly weren’t), you couldn’t stop reading about the Elephant 6 Recording Company. A loosely defined collective based in Denver and Athens, Georgia through the ’90s, the E6 was responsible for filling the underground with a slew of exquisitely crafted pop albums of all specialties, and helped lay the foundations for many of the indie-pop acts of the last decade. 

Although the two dozen or so bands in the collective tossed in the towel in 2002 and put an end to the label, several former members, including Neutral Milk Hotel’s Julian Koster and The Olivia Tremor Control’s Will Cullen Hart, pay tribute to the fabled indie-rock institution tonight, March 15, at Lincoln Hall as the Elephant 6 Orchestra. Before the Orchestra warms up and plays tunes by several E6 bands, The A.V. Club presents a quick rundown of some of the collective’s most notable bands.

Band: The Apples In Stereo
In a nutshell: Led by E6 co-founder Robert Schneider, The Apples In Stereo formed in Denver in 1993, and began blending Beatlesque melodies with the sensibilities of the ’80s American underground. A brush with a major label and seven studio albums later—and, sadly, a move out of Denver a few years ago—and the Apples In Stereo are still going strong.
Gateway album: Although 1995’s Fun Trick Noisemaker lacks the fidelity of later recordings, it laid out the formula of big hooks, high energy, and record-geek worship that helped form the blueprint for late-’90s indie pop.

Band: The Olivia Tremor Control
In a nutshell: Wearing a love for White Album-era Beatles proudly on its shoulder, The Olivia Tremor Control based all of its released works around a conceptual screenplay its main members, Hart and Bill Doss, never really got around to writing. It only sounds gimmicky and pretentious until you hear the music. 
Gateway album: On paper, the imaginary screenplay concepts behind 1996’s Music From The Unrealized Film Script, Dusk At Cubist Castle seem as if they’d sink The OTC’s debut double album. One listen to “Jumping Fences” or “Define a Transparent Dream” proves it’s a foundation for a masterpiece.

Band: Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t
In a nutshell: The solo vehicle for The Olivia Tremor Control keyboardist Pete Erchick, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t proved that even when the E6 acts rigidly stuck to the collective’s conventions—namely, buddying up to psychedelic pop and folk influences—the formula still made for a pretty solid album.
Gateway album: Erchick only recorded one album, 2001’s Individualized Shirts, that’s a pleasing, if nonessential dose of psychedelic folk.

Band: Elf Power
In a nutshell: Launching its career as a sort of poor man’s The Olivia Tremor Control, complete with conceptual albums about fantasy worlds, Elf Power slowly evolved from the dense psychedelia that marked its releases in the mid-’90s to embrace a more straightforward rock, then, later a folk-based take on pop in the late ’00s. Elf Power is a rare E6 act willing to completely overhaul its sound between records.
Gateway album: Although 1997’s When The Red King Comes is anything but an easy listen, with buzzy, lo-fi takes on psychedelic pop wrapped around a sprawling, and somewhat silly, concept album about a magical world, it’s the band’s best work, as user-unfriendly as it is.

Band: Dressy Bessy
In a nutshell: Debuting in 1999, Denver’s Dressy Bessy was one of the later acts to emerge with ties to the E6. Led by singer-guitarist Tammy Ealom, the band smashed ’60s girl-group elements into its sound, ratcheting up the cute factor as it blurred the distinction between pop’s classic era and its indie era. 
Gateway album:  The band’s debut, 1999’s Pink Hearts Yellow Moons caught the band at its innocent best, before Ealom’s obsession with go-go fashions and sleek production began to water down the band’s love of pure pop. 

Band: The Ladybug Transistor
In a nutshell: While most of the E6’s bands held psychedelia and folk close to their hearts, Brooklyn’s The Ladybug Transistor took a much more reserved approach. Instead of overwhelming listeners with swirls of guitar, the band, which formed in 1994, excels at the understated restraint that allowed it to employ ’60s guitar-pop fundamentals to become one of the least-characteristic E6 bands.
Gateway album: Don’t let the traditionalists tell you otherwise: The act’s most recent album, 2007’s Can’t Wait Another Day is its best yet.

Band: Of Montreal
In a nutshell: Led by singer-guitarist Kevin Barnes since 1996, Of Montreal’s lighthearted melodies and up-tempo songwriting became increasingly complex and layered as the Athens, Georgia band matured, with Barnes embracing flamboyant, over-the-top songwriting and a stage performance that’d grow to include choreography, sets, and multiple costumes.
Gateway album: With more than 15 studio albums, EPs, and rarities collections under its belt, Of Montreal offers listeners a staggering back catalog. The Sunlandic Twins, released in 2005, captures the best balance of Barnes’ psych-pop songwriting and his increasingly manic use of synths and other styles. 

Band: Neutral Milk Hotel
In a nutshell: Led by Jeff Mangum, this short-lived psychedelic pop band casts an enormous shadow over the modern indie-rock landscape. Blending soft-focus, lo-fi production; super-sensitive acoustic songs; and just enough psychedelic overtones, Neutral Milk Hotel’s two albums are just unpredictable enough to keep its pop accessibility interesting.
Gateway album: Although praising In The Aeroplane Over The Sea is clichéd, the 1998 album does indeed set the standard for indie folk.