Seam

Active between 1991 and 2000, Chicago band Seam is the definition of “quietly influential,” their powerful but restrained guitar rock predicting future waves of slowcore, Midwest emo, and angular indie rock. Seam’s lineup shifted several times before solidifying in 1994, vocalist/guitarist Sooyoung Park leading the band through each iteration. They produced four albums and a handful of singles and other errant releases in their near-decade run, standing as a prime example of what was happening in the American underground in their era and evolving from the moody dynamics of early work like 1993’s The Problem with Me into sounds that were both sharper and more refined on 1998’s The Pace Is Glacial, their final album.