Mainspring was a hardcore band from Redford, Michigan. I was first introduced to this band when I picked up Council Record's "The 26th" compilation 7" in Montreal. The Mainspring track immediately stood out to me as the best track on the compilation, beating out some of my favourite hardcore bands of the period like NEMA and Constatine Sankathi. I immediately wanted to find and to listen to more of their material after this. Mainspring conjures up a sound that is along the lines of what Current and Indian Summer were making; mixing late 80s Revolution Summer style hardcore with the start/stop "screamo" sound that was popular at the time. They have some really interesting guitar riffs, groovy instrumentals and excellent harsh, shrieked vocals.
Mainsprings songs are filled with darkness, angst and emotion; they really had their sound nailed down to a science. When I first got into this kind of music I always wanted to find more bands that had a similar style to Indian Summer but were still unique and talented in their own right. It's a shame Mainspring is not as widely recognized as some other big names in the scene, as they are an accomplished band with a wide array of great releases, I probably prefer them to Current and in my eyes they compete with Indian Summer as well.
The Primrose 7" is one of my favourite hardcore 7"s of all time and both tracks regularly get stuck in my head. It makes the list of my essential 7"s of the period, along with Current's "Is 4", Amber Inn's "Wednesday Streak", Inkwell's "Shine So Bright" and Indian Summers ST 7".
I would really like to see some live footage of this band, if anyone is aware of a digitized set, please send it my way!
Primrose 7" 1995 (Dance Down)
Continental 7" 1995 (Capsule)
Roosevelt's Inaugural Parade Split 7" 1995 (Conquer The World)
Discography CD 1998 (Cascade Records)
The 26th Compilation 7" 1995 (Council)
A Document Of Nothing CD Comp 1995 (Second Nature)
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