Spending the early '90s slogging it out in New Haven, CT, the Gravel Pit -- lead singer and organist Jed Parish, guitarist Lucky Jackson, bassist Ed Valauskas, and drummer Pete Caldes -- eventually made the leap into the Boston music scene, relocating to the city in 1994. Two years later, their debut album, Manifesto, made a splash on college radio with its melody first pop sensibility and hard-rocking assault on the ears. They followed up Manifesto three years later with Silver Gorilla, a more developed approach to their typical pop sound that eschews easy hooks for complicated melody lines and diverse arrangements. ~ Matthew Springer