Trans Am

Post-rock pioneers Trans Am used their collective encyclopedic knowledge of music and virtuosic musicianship—as well as an ironic wink toward stadium-rock acts of yore—to forge their own niche in the ’90s indie landscape. Formed in the Washington, DC, area in 1990 by Philip Manley, Nathan Means, and Sebastian Thomson, Trans Am released their first album in 1996; taking cues from prog-rock acts with its maximalist sound, it stood out sonically amid the slackers populating college-radio charts at the time, although its winking attitude toward its source material fit right in with the mood of the ’90s. Over time, Trans Am brought more influences into their mix: dropping syncopated motorik rhythms into 1997’s jagged Surrender to the Night and incorporating vocoder-distorted vocals on 1999’s sci-fi-minded Futureworld. The band tackled modern politics on 2004’s bleak Liberation, then took a break after its release; they reconvened in 2007 for the slightly more pop-minded Sex Change and continued regularly releasing music until 2017’s California Hotel.