Although
the Blake Babies broke up in early 1991, just as they seemed to be on the verge of success in the post-
Nevermind alternative music scene, there were no underlying personality conflicts or artistic disagreements.
John Strohm and
Freda Love
simply wanted to go home. The couple had moved to Boston from their
native Indiana to attend the Berklee School of Music, but had gotten
sidetracked when they formed
the Blake Babies with singer/bassist
Juliana Hatfield in 1987. Over the course of their four-album career,
Strohm had grown as a songwriter to the point that he could lead his own band, so when he and
Love resettled in Bloomington, IN, the guitarist and drummer formed
Antenna with local musicians
Jacob Smith on bass and
Vess Ruhtenberg on second guitar.
Strohm apparently had built up quite a backlog of songs during the later days of
the Blake Babies because
Antenna's first album,
Sway, was recorded and released less than a year after that group split up. A clear continuation from
Blake Babies songs like "Girl in a Box," the songs on
Sway are lyrically dark but sunnily melodic jangle pop, with Ruhtenberg's rhythm guitar creating a much fuller sound than
Strohm and
Love's previous trio ever had. The newfound country tinge of a few songs would become more prominent in
Strohm's post-
Antenna solo career. Ruhtenberg left
Antenna shortly after the first album was recorded, and, unexpectedly,
Love followed in early 1992.
Patrick Spurgeon took over the drum seat and the refurbished trio released the EP
Sleep, combining two of
Sway's best tracks, "Sleep" and "All I Need," with a rough demo of Smith's "Wall Paper" and a noisy, punky blast through
Wire's minimalist classic "Outdoor Miner." With second-guitar help from
Strohm's friend Ed Ackerman (
Strohm returned the favor on a couple of albums by
Ackerman's group
Polara), the trio recorded the outstanding
Hideout in 1993. The twin-guitar interplay of
Strohm and
Ackerman recalls both
Television and
My Bloody Valentine, and the songs -- this time all
Strohm/Smith co-compositions -- rock with a newfound verve and confidence. Unfortunately,
Antenna ended at that point, with 1993's (For Now) EP serving as their farewell. Reunited with
Love on drums, the three new songs, particularly the storming title track, are among the best things
Antenna ever did. When the group split, Smith and
Love got married, had a son, and formed the countryish pop group the Mysteries of Life with
Vulgar Boatmen keyboardist
Dale Lawrence.
Strohm
quickly formed yet another short-lived band, the even darker and
noisier Velo-Deluxe, before finally embarking on an alt-country solo
career in the mid-'90s.
