Unlike almost all of those bands, however, the North Atlantic got an unexpected second chance when that extremely rare self-released CD was resurrected and more widely released over three years after they'd split up.
Formed in Kalamazoo, MI in 1999 by singer and guitarist Jason Hendrix, his brother drummer Cullen Hendrix, and bassist and keyboardist Jason Richards, the North Atlantic eventually relocated to the more musically hip climes of San Diego, where their blend of urgent post-punk rhythms and Hendrix's emo-charged vocal intensity garnered the band enough of a local following that they were able to eke out some small national tours. Their sole album, Wires in the Walls, was self-released in early 2003 to strong reviews, but Hendrix pulled the plug on the band in the summer of that year to return to school.
Normally, that would have been that, but a small, fervent cult following sprung up around Wires in the Walls. We Put Out Records, a subsidiary of East West Records (the Warner Music Group's faux indie rock imprint) run by the radio promotion and street team powerhouse the Music Syndicate, reissued Wires in the Walls in July 2006. Around the same time, the North Atlantic at least temporarily reunited for a national tour. ~ Stewart Mason