Marbles

by Jason AnkenyNot a band per se, the Marbles were essentiallly the alias of singer/songwriter Robert Schneider, better known as the frontman of the frontman of the Apples (in stereo). A four-track solo project, the Marbles began in March 1992 in the Denver, Colorado apartment Schneider shared with fellow Ruston, Louisiana native and future Olivia Tremor Control founder W. Cullen Hart; primarily a solo project, its sunny pop reflected Schneiders ongoing love of the Beach Boys, incorporating Casios and toy musical instruments into his gentle, guitar-based songs. Upon the Apples formation in 1993, the Marbles effectively ceased to exist; a posthumous compilation of material entitled Pyramid Landing and Other Favorites appeared in 1997.