The Embarrassment

• Genre: Indie/Alternative
• Hometown: Wichita

About

Although the Embarrassment's four-year tenure didn't bring the Wichita, Kansas natives fame and fortune, it certainly did bring the quartet a devout following that has not only endured, but grown exponentially in the last twenty years. The band's lyrics centered around quirky, "New Wave-ish" themes such as pretentious artists, English scientists and sexual confusion. Set against a barrage of guitars that were alternately loud, jagged, blistering and soaring, jangly and melodic. The combination, unlike the English New Wave bands dominating college radio and equally unlike Styx, Journey and Van Halen and their ilk, was ahead of its time and influenced many bands in its wake.

- Linda Ryan