Biography
The GREAT brain consisted of Michael Conroy (bass/guitar), Daniel Kiely (drums), Charan Ranganath (guitars), Brent Ritzel (guitars/bass). The Chicago-based quartet got their start in 1994 when Ranganath, then a graduate student at Northwestern, responded to a flyer put together by Ritzel, who published the influential Chicago music 'zine Tail Spins. The two developed a style of songwriting initially influenced heavily by Archers of Loaf, Polvo, Pixies, and Sonic Youth, as evidenced by their early singles, Ray/Half Decayed (Faye Records) and Satan Superman/Dotbuster. However, they soon developed a unique style by augmenting their trademark intertwined, dissonant guitars with odd time signatures, unusual arrangements, and multiple, sometimes overlapping vocals. Their subsequent CD release, Algorithm (Throwrug records), stood apart even in the fertile 90's Chicago music scene by violating the usual expectations placed on bands. Some songs, such as "You became the angry chimes" and "Linda Lavin" were lush and melodic, whereas others such as "Strawberry Flan", "Eigenvector", "Crack Blues", and "Dry Socket" were avant garde math rock blowouts. The band garnered a great deal of attention, including glowing zine reviews, TV and radio coverage, and even a song on the soundrack of "Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer 2: Mask of Sanity". However, the demands placed by the band's members' day jobs eventually took their toll, and the GREAT brain broke up in 1998.
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