Ultra Cindy

Ultra Cindy formed in a garage in the Kempsville section of Virginia Beach, Virginia in May 1992. They gravitated to the Norfolk music scene, known for its support of original music, especially around clubs like the King’s Head Inn, Cogans, and Lewis’. The original line-up featured Bill Russell (guitar/vocals), Russell Cook (drums), Joshua Kraemer (guitar/vocals), and Dean Rasmussen (bass/vocals). Rasmussen had spent many years playing in bands in Richmond, Virginia like Flannel. Rasmussen left the band in late-1993, but not before the band self-released its “Whirlwind/Roller Coaster” 7" in 1992. The band’s song, “Curmudgeon,” was featured on a compilation CD produced by Wax Puppy Records called "Handprints II,” featuring Hampton Roads bands like Antic Hay, Gang Chorus, and the Mockers. Ultra Cindy released a single on the 1993 Brilliant Records compilation, "Something Pretty Beautiful," which featured Fudge, Small Factory, and the Knievels. They also recorded four songs with Chip Jones and David Moore in Richmond at the Technical Jed House, which were included on the 1994 Brilliant release, "Wyatt's Torch," featuring Poole, the Seymores, and the Technical Jed. Ultra Cindy also took part in the Indie 500 music festival in rural New Jersey in July 1993, and the band was featured on the 1994 Jiffy Boy Records, "Ten Cent Fix," compilation.

After Rasmussen's departure, Kenny Gatdula, formerly of Gang Chorus, joined the band in late '93 to play bass. Ultra Cindy signed that year to New York City-based, Earthling Records. The band had spent time at Glass Hand Studio in Richmond, working with Mark Milley. A number of the songs on the debut album, "The Mermaid's Parade," released in spring 1994, were recorded with Rasmussen. Nathan Boar, a Williamsburg, Virginia native, living in Richmond, joined the band after they had moved to the city in 1994. The band worked on a never released EP, at Studio .45 in Hartford, Connecticut in September 1994, with Michael Deming and Greg Vegas. In 1995, the single "Eighteen Stories Down" was included on the spinART compilation, "LemonLime Volume One," which featured The Apples in Stereo and Holiday Flyer. The band folded in 1995. Cook and Russell performed in the band Drunk with Rick Alverson, while Kraemer recorded with Collider and Pan Am Down. Rasmussen went on to form Secretariat.

Jack Rabid’s review in the Big Takeover, No. 36, 1994 of Ultra Cindy’s album compared the band’s sound to New Order, Kitchens of Distinction, and Ride, stating that “[e]verything is sighing and languid; like Breathless, they tend toward the gentler, more melancholy side of the ethereal guitar brigade.” Rabid noted that band’s debut album was “a rather pleasant starting point.”