Orwell were a five-piece post-hardcore/emo band from Chicago, Illinois. For many years, they were really known as being another project that Bob Nanna (Braid, Hey Mercedes) was involved in, as their official releases were limited to sporadic compilation tracks and a handful of unreleased bootleg recordings circulating the internet.

While all the members had other musical projects going on (Gainer, Braid, The Sky Corvair, Hubcap), college, and were running record labels (Divot Records, Actionboy Records). They somehow found time to take on one more project.

Though Orwell only lasted a year, they managed to record eight songs, and play a handful of shows. Three of those songs managed to get released, “4242” on the Emo Schmeemo 7”, “Angular Momentum” on the Polyvinyl Direction comp (but only the CD version), and “Bandsaw Architecture” on the Divot/Actionboy Ground Rule double comp. The other five songs had never been released… until now

Finally, in 2020 an official discography was released, including all recorded material, as well as some live tracks and demos. The result was Orwell 1995, which is titled as such since everything on it was recorded that year. It sold out immediately!

Now, Expert Work Records/American Handstand Records presents a re-press celebrating 30 years since this music was written and recorded. Sonically, fans of Nanna’s other work will dig this, though it does have a more raw, aggressive sound in comparison to the usually melodic works of Braid.

Photo courtesy of Orwell.