Biography

Indie rock duo Kicking Giant comprised singer/guitarist Tae Won Yu and drummer Rachel Carns, who first teamed while both were attending art school in New York City in 1989. That same year they issued their first cassette-only release, January; three more tapes -- Boyfriend Girlfriend, Secret Teenage Summer, and Present -- appeared on an annual basis before Kicking Giant relocated to Olympia, Washington in 1992. There they compiled 1993's Halo, a collection of material from the earlier cassettes; the duo then signed to K Records and released a single, "She's Real," as part of the label's International Pop Underground series. The full-length Alien I.D. followed in 1994. The duo had songs appear on a couple of compilations in 2005, but also moved on to other projects. Carns joined the Need and recorded four albums with them between 1997 and 2001, then played in the bands King Cobra and TWIN while also guesting on a number of records. Yu moved on to a career in visual arts, drawing album covers for Built to Spill, painting, taking photographs, and writing children's books. In 2013, Yu formed the short-lived band Poses, and at one of their shows he and Carns reunited to play a short set as Kicking Giant, their first performance since 2006. Over the next few years they played the occasional show, including the Chickfactor 25th anniversary in 2017. Around that same time, Drawing Room Records issued Halo on vinyl for the first time. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi