Album Notes

Before Cinjun and Shelby were Spartan Fidelity, they were in Hollywood, and as members of Remy Zero, walking and sleeping on Sunset and Vine. They wrote songs about where they were, "The Villa Elaine" and how it felt, "Save Me". Mostly due to the smog, Remy Zero ended and in order to finally escape the desperation megapolis, Cinjun and Shelby rented a car and drove and drove - mostly Cinjun - and then recorded some sounds in a shack in Tennessee. They were called Spartan Fidelity then. Spartan Fidelity is just Cinjun and Shelby with old computers, and maybe a drummer once in a while. Their first CD, on Excavation Records, is Excava-11.

Chuck Mindenhall of the Village Voice writes, "Spartan Fidelity is the larger canvas for the brothers Cinjun and Shelby Tate, a glorious, sad, vertically reaching portrait signed in blood. A colossal album from the first, Excava-11 extracts the sub rosa elements of Remy Zero's "Twister," and the haunting tremolo of Villa Elaine's more abstract numbers ("Life in Rain", "Motorcycle") and comes together through the earth-worn sensibilities of the Tates. From the three-tiered opening into the heartbreaking "Pinpoint" to the brilliant Velvet Goldmine-esque "Such Green Velvet Pants" to the slightly ominous "Locust" -- each song bleeds into the next -- and every one of them gets you in the gut. It's an intricate album full of wonder."

While the end of Remy Zero was in Spartan Fidelity's destiny - it paved the road for Shelby and Cinjun's foundation to grow into fruition. Weaving a unique soundscape that launches each listener into it's journey, Spartan Fidelity now create a brew of delights anew. They make no excuses. They are free from boundaries. The music speaks for itself. It's had almost 20 years to ponder its vision and it's got a story to tell.

As for the journey ahead, Spartan Fidelity are soon to release more of these sounds and tour in a strange lean fashion. They will go to small cities and giant ones and a few countries beside the U.S. Spartan Fidelity tour dates will be announced very soon, as well as their mode of transportation and unique identifying markings.