Ironweed
Albany acid doom, est. 2007 — Magnetic Eye alumni, a CBS sync on 'Two and a Half Men', and a 2025 double-shot revival.
Biography
Ironweed takes its name from William Kennedy's Pulitzer-winning Albany novel, and it earns the reference: this is Albany heavy lineage, rooted in the city's streets, trails, and clubs. The band formed in March 2007 from the Great Day For Up core — Mike Vitali (guitar, principal songwriter), Brendan Slater (bass), Jim Feck (drums) — joined by Jeff Andrews, a vocalist AllMusic credited with 'emotionally charged delivery and frankly stupendous range,' and guitarist Ryan Rapp, whose skull logo still marks the band's shirts, decks, and drumheads. 'The Great Destroyer' EP arrived within the year; the band was never a project waiting for permission.
'Indian Ladder' (Small Stone SS-085, October 2008) is named for the escarpment trail above Albany and was cut at Mad Oak Studios in Allston with Benny Grotto behind the glass. It carries two pieces of the label's future inside it: 'Death of Me,' the Vitali-written track that aired on CBS's 'Two and a Half Men' (Season 7, Episode 22, 'This Is Not Gonna End Well'), and 'A Penny for Your Prayers,' the song the PENNY streaming platform is named after. In March 2009 Ironweed played the Small Stone SXSW showcase at Room 710 in Austin — directly across the street from Metallica's surprise show at Stubb's — and shared stages at home with The Sword, Baroness, and Year Long Disaster. 'Your World of Tomorrow' (2011) made the band a cornerstone twice over: its catalog number is MER001, the very first release on Vitali's own Magnetic Eye Records, co-issued with Small Stone on 250 copies of green-and-white swirl 180-gram vinyl.
The reels never stopped. 'The Weed' (2021) and the 'Aegis' EP (2024) reopened the channel, and 2025 delivered the double-shot on American Record: the self-titled album on January 13 and 'Phantasmagoric' on February 11 — eighteen new tracks inside a month, from a band eighteen years into the work. Ironweed is where the American Record Company story hardens from local legend into label infrastructure, and it is still writing.
Era History
- 2007Albany, after GDFU — Formed March 2007 from the GDFU core (Vitali, Slater, Feck) plus Jeff Andrews and Ryan Rapp. Named for William Kennedy's Pulitzer-winning Albany novel — a band that wears its city on its sleeve. 'The Great Destroyer' EP arrives the same year: no warm-up period, straight to tape.
- 2008Indian Ladder — SS-085, October 2008 — recorded at Mad Oak Studios in Allston with Benny Grotto engineering, mixing, and co-producing. 'Death of Me' placed on CBS's 'Two and a Half Men' (Season 7, Episode 22, 'This Is Not Gonna End Well'), and 'A Penny for Your Prayers' seeded the name of the label's future streaming platform.
- 2009Room 710, Austin TX — Friday March 20, 2009 — the Small Stone Records SXSW showcase at Room 710, doubling as the Ironweed record release party, directly across the street from Metallica's surprise show at Stubb's. Sixth Street belonged to the heavy bands that week.
- 2011Your World of Tomorrow (MER001) — The first catalog number on Vitali's own Magnetic Eye Records, co-issued with Small Stone (SS-114) — 250 copies on green-and-white swirl 180-gram vinyl in a deluxe gatefold, Alexander von Wieding's eye-in-hand artwork on the cover. The moment the guitarist became the label.
- 2021The Weed / Aegis — 'The Weed' (2021) and the 'Aegis' EP (2024) reignite the project — the astronaut painting of the Weed era and the Aegis shield mark a band updating its own iconography rather than reliving it.
- 2025The double-shot — 'Ironweed' (January 13) and 'Phantasmagoric' (February 11) — eighteen tracks in a month on American Record, released at the pace the label now runs on. The acid doom is current, not curated.
Canonical Catalog
| Title | Year | Format | First pressed via | Tracks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Great Destroyer (EP) | 2007 | EP | 0 | |
| Indian Ladder | 2008 | LP | Small Stone Records (SS-085) | 11 |
| Your World of Tomorrow | 2011 | LP | Magnetic Eye Records (MER001) / Small Stone (SS-114) | 9 |
| The Weed | 2021 | LP | 0 | |
| Aegis (EP) | 2024 | EP | 0 | |
| Ironweed | 2025 | LP | 9 | |
| Phantasmagoric | 2025 | LP | 9 |
Press, On the Record
“Your World of Tomorrow is heavy rock for heavy rockers.” The Obelisk · 2011 · The Ironweed of Tomorrow, Today! · verified at theobelisk.net
“Singer Jeff Andrews, whose emotionally charged delivery and frankly stupendous range could really help the band stand out from the post-stoner rock pack.” AllMusic (Eduardo Rivadavia) · 2008 · Indian Ladder review · verified at smallstone.bandcamp.com
“Check out 'And The New Slaves' and decide if you'll rally around their revolutionary call.” Lollipop Magazine (Mike Delano) · 2012 · Your World Of Tomorrow review · verified at lollipopmagazine.com
“Both GDFU & Ironweed had small successes with commercial placement on some MTV shows, Fuel TV, Charlie Sheenan's final episode on CBS's 2 1/2 men in addition to playing South by Southwest in 2005, 2007 & 2009 & numerous appearances at the CMJ festival.” It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine (Klemen Breznikar) · 2012 · Mike Vitali interview · verified at psychedelicbabymag.com
Notable Appearances & Placements
- SXSW 2009 — Small Stone Records showcase — Room 710, Austin, TX (2009) · Friday March 20, 2009 — verified via Ironweed's archived MySpace; The Obelisk confirms the Small Stone showcase was across the street from Metallica's SXSW show at Stubb's. Ironweed record release party.
- Revolution Hall with The Sword & Year Long Disaster — Revolution Hall, Troy, NY (2009) · January 20, 2009 — verified via Heavy Planet and the archived MySpace.
- SXSW 2005 & 2007 — Austin, TX · Documented in the 2012 It's Psychedelic Baby interview.
- CMJ — numerous appearances — New York, NY · Documented in the 2012 It's Psychedelic Baby interview and Small Stone's official bio ('followed by CMJ this fall', 2011).
- Compilations: Meantime [Redux] & Riffs and Spliffs Vol. II — (2016) · 'Give It' and 'Your Borrowed' on Magnetic Eye's Helmet tribute; 'Heavy Crowns' on Riffs and Spliffs — verified via Metal Archives/Discogs.
Photography
Contact
LabelAmerican Record Company · Albany, New York
Press & Booking Deskdemos@amrecordcompany.com
Streamingpennyhq.com
Vinyl & Merch3313rpm.com