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The lone constant of California's long-running Black Watch is John Andrew Fredrick, an anglophile with a Ph.D. in English from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Since the late '80s, Fredrick has sporadically released well-regarded albums that have gained comparisons to the House of Love, the Go-Betweens, My Bloody Valentine, the Cure, American Music Club, Yo La Tengo, and late-'60s pop. Unable to secure a stable lineup since forming the group in 1987 (violinist/guitarist J'Anna Jacoby has been with the group since the late '80s) and unable to remain on a decent label for more than one release, Fredrick's talent as a writer and skill as a musician has gone unnoticed, aside from gaining admiration from a handful of underground journalists. Fredrick assembled the first lineup of the Black Watch after finishing college. After recording a brief demo and opening for the Church and Toad the Wet Sprocket, the band more or less went their own way. Later in 1987, Fredrick put toge...