Influenced by the British shoegaze movement, Drop Nineteens were formed in 1990 in Boston by then-classmates Greg Ackell (vocals, guitar) and Chris Roof (drums), students at Boston University. The band turned into a quintet with the addition of Paula Kelley (vocals, guitar), Steve Zimmerman (bass) and Motohiro Yasue (guitar).
Drop Nineteens was one of the few American bands to embrace the British genre that at that time had names like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Lush, Ride, Th' Faith Healers, Pale Saints, Bleach, among others.
The band released their debut album Delaware in 1992 on Caroline Records, generating buzz in the alternative scene, particularly in England.
However, the promise of the next sensation did not come to fruition. In 1993, due to disagreements, Kelley, Roof and Yasue left the band. Ackell and Zimmerman continued with Drop Nineteens with new members Megan Gilbert (vocals, guitar), Justin Crosby (guitar) and Pete Koeplin (drums). Also in 1993, the band released their second album National Coma. The following year, the band broke up.
In 2023, thirty years after National Coma, the band returned with the lineup that recorded the debut album. With this return, Drop Nineteen released Hard Light.
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