The Make-Up

Making direct overtures to early gospel, soul and R&B recordings, sharp-dressed ensemble The Make-Up stood out from the indie-rock pack in a big way in the mid-’90s. Formed in Washington, D.C. in 1995 by members of influential punk bands Nation of Ulysses and The Frumpies, The Make-Up locked into intense rhythmic workouts set against the sermon-like screeds of singer Ian Svenonius, whose lascivious falsetto and frantic screams borrowed equally from James Brown and The MC5’s Rob Tyner. So potent were the band on stage that they designed their debut album, 1996’s Destination: Love – Live! at Cold Rice, as a faux live album to replicate the concert experience. After The Make-Up finished in 2000, Svenonius went on to juggle many subsequent acts, including Weird War, Chain & The Gang, and Escape-ism, all while deepening his indie-intellectual reputation by working widely as a writer, DJ and talk-show host.