Rodan (band)

Rodan formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1992. After quickly passing through drummers Jon Cook and John Weiss, in 1993 the band was joined by Kevin Coultas.[1] In 1993, they recorded their Aviary demo which saw limited release. Later that year two songs from Aviary; "Milk and Melancholy" and "Exoskeleton", were rerecorded and released as How the Winter Was Passed. Six of the songs on the Aviary demo were re-recorded by Bob "Rusty" Weston (of Shellac fame) and released in 1994 as the album Rusty. The band acted as "Truckstop" in the 1994 cult road movie Half-cocked to which they also contributed music to the soundtrack. Although they were never signed to the label, Rodan was close to Simple Machines, contributing to several compilations and playing at the label's Working Holiday festival. The band also had a John Peel recording session in 1995.

Rodan broke up in 1995 with the members pursuing other musical interests. O'Neil joined Retsin and began a solo career, Mueller joined June of 44, Coultas and Noble joined Rachel's, and Coultas and O'Neil joined The Sonora Pine.[2] Mueller and Noble started Shipping News in late-1996 and continued to perform until Noble died from synovial sarcoma, on August 4, 2012. Jon Cook, the band's original drummer, died in early-February 2013.

Jeanette Leech (UK) covers Rodan in the chapter on the Louisville scene in her book on post-rock, Fearless (Leech, Jeanette, 2017. Fearless: the making of post-rock. London: Jawbone Books).

Studio albums

• Aviary (1993) – Cassette Demo
• Rusty (Quarterstick Records, 1994) – LP/CD

EPs

• How the Winter Was Passed (Three Little Girls Recordings, 1993)

Compilation

• Fifteen Quiet Years (Quarterstick Records, 2013)

Contributions to compilations

• The Aftereffects Of Insomnia Volume 2 (Three Little Girls Recordings, 1992) Shiner (Demo)
• Slamdek Merry Christmas Is For Rockers (Slamdek Records, 1992) Toothfairy Retribution Manifesto Various
• The Machines 1990-1993 (Simple Machines Records, 1993) Darjeeling
• Omphalos (Richie's Lemon-Herb Media, 1993) Tooth Fairy Retribution Manifesto
• Inclined Plane (Simple Machines, 1993) Darjeeling
• Working Holiday (Simple Machines, 1994) Big Things, Little Things
• The Monsters Of Rock II (Simple Machines, 1994) Tooth Fairy Retribution Manifesto (Live)
• CMJ New Music No. 10 (College Music Journal, May 1994) Tooth Fairy Retribution Manifesto
• Louisville Babylon (Analog Distillery, 1994) Who Killed Marilyn
• Compulsiv For Two 7" (Compulsiv Music 1994) Shiner
• Half-Cocked (Matador, 1995) Tron
• Slamdek A To Z. The Illustrated History Of Louisville's Slamdek Record Company 1986-1995 (K Composite Media & Initial Records, 1996) Toothfairy Retribution Manifesto
• Louisville Babylon 1994/2007 (Double Malt Music, 2007) Who Killed Marlyn?

• June of 44 – Jeff Mueller
• The King Cobra – Tara Jane O'Neil
• The Naysayer – Tara Jane O'Neil
• Rachel's – Jason Noble, occasional contributions from Kevin Coultas and Jeff Mueller
• Per Mission – Jason Noble
• Retsin – Tara Jane O'Neil
• Shipping News – Jason Noble, Jeff Mueller
• The Sonora Pine – Tara Jane O'Neil, Kevin Coultas
• Sunspring – John Weiss
• Crain – Jon Cook
• Cerebellum – Jon Cook

• Rodan discography at Discogs