The Poison Arrows

by Stewart MasonThe Poison Arrows have a somewhat complicated, two-part history. The original, more pop-oriented band formed in 1996 in Knoxville, TN, as a transitional project between two other, better-known bands. Guitarists Jason Morris and Justin Sinkovich had just come out of the alt-rock outfit Thumbnail, and bassist Scott Westmoreland and drummer Ben Martin were friends from the local scene. Although the band recorded a full album's worth of songs in 1996 and 1997, Sinkovich chose to move to Chicago and start a new band, the epic post-rock outfit Atombombpocketknife. These recordings remained unreleased until 2001, when they were released under the Poison Arrows name by Sound on Sound Records. When Sinkovich broke up Atombombpocketknife in 2004, he re-adopted the name the Poison Arrows for use in his new sideline career as a remixer; some solo electronic experiments appeared on various compilations around that time as well, before Sinkovich released the debut EP Trailer Park later that year. Following that release, Sinkovich formed a proper band, adding bassist Patrick Morris (formerly of post-rock stalwarts Don Caballero) and drummer Adam Reach (who also plays with Sinkovich's old Atombombpocketknife bandmate Che Arthur) and recording new material. Eclectic remixes of the new band's basic tracks by artists ranging from Suicide's Martin Rev to Califone's Brian Deck were released in 2006 as the download-only collection Premix. The Poison Arrows' own final versions of those tracks were released as the EP Straight into the Drift in March 2007.