The Throes is an indie, Christian alternative band formed in 1988 in Northern Virginia.
The original lineup consisted of singer/guitarist Bill Campbell, percussionist Harry Evans and bassist Joy Gewalt. Friends from the suburbs of Greater Washington, D.C., The Throes released an independent cassette in 1989, The Era of Condolence, featuring seven songs written by Campbell and Evans of "youth, love and unanswered questions."
In 1990, The Throes were the first alternative pop band to sign with R.E.X. Records, an indie label based out of New York City and known mostly for its speed and death metal acts. In September 1990, The Throes released All The Flowers Growing In Your Mother's Eyes, which features "a barrage of guitars, vocals and the lyrical musings of Harry Evans". Or, as reviewer J. Edward Keyes says, Flowers "creates moody, dour pop akin to REM and The Smiths" with "sparkling guitar" driven by "idiosyncratic percussion." On the whole, Keyes says, the album is "charged with the unmistakable energy of possibility, the sound of a young band who still believes they can change the world."
Three albums followed: Fall on Your World (1992); 12 Before 9 (1995), featuring the only remaining founding member, Bill Campbell, presiding over its creation; and Amerofriasiana (1997), ushering the return of Harry Evans