Paying Tribute To Archers Of Loaf: "Even If I Had Two Other Hands, I Couldn't Count My Favorite Archers Songs On Them"

​In this week's Voice, we looked at the history of Archers Of Loaf, the storied North Carolina indie outfit that recently got back together for a run of shows and reissues. Below, some quotes from Archers frontman Eric Bachmann that couldn't fit into the Voice's print edition; members of Band of Horses, Les Savy Fav and the Hold Steady help restore the white trash heroes' proper place in indie rock's annals, too.

NOSTALGIA

Ben Bridwell (singer/guitarist, Band of Horses): They were my Phish or my Dead at the time—I've seen Archers of Loaf more than any other band I've ever seen. I remember seeing them once when I was 19 and I did the fanboy thing. Waited by the buses and actually got to talk to Matt Gentling, and maybe Eric Johnson, and my sole goal of the evening was to try and get them stoned. So I waited, and they politely declined getting stoned with some random dude in a parking lot.

Eric Bachmann (singer/guitarist, Archers of Loaf): We didn't know what we were doing and we didn't expect success or know how to handle it. Looking back, we thought people were attacking us for asking about the name or something, when they were just interested! We were like, 'fuck you, we're just trying to do what we do' and like, hey, they like you. Looking back we didn't have to be hostile to people, we were just insecure and afraid of success, thought it might change us or whatever. You can look back and smile and laugh at it. I don't mind people asking what the name is because it's a ridiculous name. It's so distinctive, and if you can celebrate within the knowledge of being ridiculous, it's rewarding.

Bridwell: Right, the word "loaf," huh? That part about it made you feel like it was yours. I think people gripped onto them even tighter than they maybe did Pavement. I mean, everybody liked Pavement. We were biased because we lived in the South, and we finally had our regional Pavement, our Sebadoh. Even though Archers weren't from South Carolina, they had a song about South Carolina, so we were protective of them.

Craig Finn (singer/guitarist, The Hold Steady): I heard "Web in Front" for the first time on college radio in 1993 and bought the 7" right after. I must have listened to it a thousand times in a row. I have not been so obsessed with a song before or since. It was no accident that the early [pre-Hold Steady band] Lifter Puller stuff sounded a lot like Archers. At the time we started that band, I was literally listening to nothing else.