The Impossible Shapes

by Heather PharesEqually inspired by lo-fi indie rockers such as Guided by Voices and psychedelic popsters such as Olivia Tremor Control and Apples in Stereo, Bloomington, IN's the Impossible Shapes began playing and recording together before they were old enough to drink. The group -- which features Chris Barth, Aaron Deer, Peter King, and Jason Groth -- formed in the late '90s. Barth issued the cassette-only Compilation and Mono Fruits in 1998 on his own Impossible imprint, as well as the Impossible Shapes' debut EP, On a Delicate Evening, the following year. In 1999 Barth's own Match Factory was released, as well as King's Proton Elixir cassette and Deer's Back When I Spoke Gibberish on the Acoustic Juice label, which also released his 1998 cassette, The Fish That Got Away.
In 2000, the Impossible Shapes released Quality Control for the Liquid Room, a split cassette with Sissy Fuzz, as well as The Great Migration, which earned favorable reviews comparing the band to everyone from Pavement to Syd Barrett to the Small Faces. Released in 2002, Laughter Fills Our Hollow Dome won even more praise for its more experimental take on the group's sound. That year, Chris Barth also released Loving Off the Land: A Story in Two Parts, while 2003 saw the release of Bless the Headless and We Like It Wild. In addition to the Impossible Shapes and their collaborative solo efforts, Barth, Deer, King, and Groth also play in the soul band John Wilkes Booze with singer Seth Mahern and guitarist Eric Weddle. In 2005 the band released its fifth full-length record, Horus, followed by Tum in 2006.