Beauty Pill

After D.C. post-punks Smart Went Crazy broke up in 1998, songwriters Chad Clark and Abram Goodrich decided to create music on their own. With the help of Black Sonya 2000, the name they gave their mobile studio kit, they formed the Beauty Pill. Clark used the producing experience he gained with Smart Went Crazy and Dismemberment Plan to experiment with new sounds. But the duo, wanting another human in the band, asked a friend, Joanne Gholl, to co-sing. A range of D.C. guest musicians — from Burning Airlines to Fugazi — embellished the band's pop sounds, as did a trumpet, vibraphone, and cello. Ryan Nelson of the Most Secret Method joined to drum. The band finally released a debut EP, The Cigarette Girl From the Future, on DeSoto Records in 2001.