Spahn Ranch were misfits in late-'80s Detroit, but their peculiar sound -- shamanistic vocals and predominantly tribal-to-martial rhythms in particular -- would have made them one-offs in any other era or scene. The band took shape after drummer Odell Nails and guitarist Brad Horowitz invited frontman and percussionist Bob Sterner, previously of Grief Factory, to play with them. As a trio, Spahn Ranch made their first recordings in a facility on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Shortly thereafter, they associated with Insight, a San Francisco-based label started by Glorious Din leader Eric Cope, and recorded 1987's Thickly Settled with Cope and Matt Wallace as co-producers. The album wouldn't have been out of place on other underground labels with stronger identity and broader reach, such as Independent Project or even 4AD.

Admirer Hobey Echlin, who had met Sterner years earlier while working as the music editor of The Michigan Daily, subsequently joined the band as bassist. Final recordings, some of which surfaced on the 1989 cassette compilation No Scraps for Old Dogs, were made with Mike E. Clark in East Detroit. By the time Spahn Ranch split, they had opened in Detroit for many major underground and emergent acts, including Sonic Youth, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and My Bloody Valentine, and had occasionally played outside their home state. Only Nails and Echlin, who continued with Majesty Crush, remained deeply involved with music. Sterner died in 2008. In 2017, the Dais label released Back to the Wood, which combined highlights from Thickly Settled and cassettes with some previously unreleased material. The anthology was available on vinyl and as a download, and accessible on streaming platforms. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi