Acetone

In 1992, Acetone put its first four songs onto cassette and folded into each case a Polaroid of an LP floating at the bottom of a pool. The cassette got them a manager, a producer, and a lucrative contract with Virgin. Labels were lusting for another Nirvana. Acetone wasn’t another Nirvana.
The trio made its best music when no one was listening. Those cassettes were stuffed into shoeboxes and kept in a storage shed next to Steve Hadley’s house. This is the first time the tapes have been heard. Counting their early years in the…
Read more...The trio made its best music when no one was listening. Those cassettes were stuffed into shoeboxes and kept in a storage shed next to Steve Hadley’s house. This is the first time the tapes have been heard. Counting their early years in the scuzz-rock band Spinout—their sole self-titled release came out in 1991 on Delicious Vinyl—Steve Hadley, Mark Lightcap, and Richie Lee played together for 15 years. The band ended in July 2001, when Richie Lee committed suicide in the garage next to the house where the trio practiced. Afterwards, Rolling Stone ran a short obituary that said Acetone’s albums were “well received” but “failed to make any waves.” It was the first and only time the band got national press coverage.