Erase Errata

by Greg Prato
The music of the San Francisco (by way of Oakland) indie rock outfit Erase Errata has been compared to such eclectic experimentalists as Captain Beefheart, the Minutemen, and the Dog Faced Hermans, due to the fact that the group posses an uncanny knack of improvising on the spot (claiming that they could improvise a whole set if pressed to). Comprised of members Jenny Hoyston (vocals and trumpet), Ellie Erickson (bass), Bianca Sparta (drums), and Sara Jaffe (guitar), Erase Errata originally formed in December of 1999 — when the group jammed in the vacant room of one of Sparta and Hoystons roommates. The quartet immediately proved that they had a solid chemistry, as they penned ten original tunes in the span of a half-hour. Erase Errata spent six weeks during the fall of 2000 touring alongside the likes of Melt Banana and Le Tigre, issuing a split single soon after with Brooklyn, NY-based noise rockers Black Dice, on the Troubleman label. A year later, Erase Erratas full-length debut was issued, Other Animals (also via Troubleman). In 2002, the band released a split single with electro-rockers Numbers, and in spring 2003, Dancing Machine, a remix album featuring Adult., Kid 606, and Matmos, arrived. Meanwhile, Hoyston worked on her other project Paradise Island, releasing the debut album Lines Are Infinitely Fine that summer on Dim Mak. Erase Erratas long-awaited second album, At Crystal Palace, came out in fall 2003. They returned — minus Jaffe — in 2006 with Nightlife.