Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments

The band was formed in 1989 by Ron House, the former frontman of the band Great Plains.[3] The band is named after Thomas Jefferson's slave quarters at Monticello.[4] Soon after their formation, they released several 7"s in the Columbus area.[1] They followed these up with their debut album, Bait and Switch, which they recorded at a cost of $800,[5] and which was released in 1995 on American Recordings.[2] This album was followed by their second album, Straight to Video, in 1997 on Anyway Records.[3] Also in 1997, the band released a compilation album, You Lookin' for Treble,[6] which contained singles the band had released from 1990 to 1992, as well as songs from an EP released during that time.[7] Their third and last studio album, "No Old Guy Lo-Fi Cry", was released in 2000 on Rockathon Records, a label owned by Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard.[8]

Bait and Switch received a favorable review from Entertainment Weekly's Ethan Smith, who wrote that the album was "short on polish, long on charm" and gave it a B+ rating.[9] Greg Kot also reviewed the album favorably, writing that there is "Nothing new here, just a clangorous, nasty good time courtesy of some saw-toothed riffs and a supremely estranged wit."[10] Robert Christgau gave Bait and Switch an A- rating, writing that the first five songs on the album "rush by in a perfect furious tunefest".[11] Another review of this album appeared in Spin, in which Eric Weisbard wrote that "House was right to reground his art, putting the way music flows and falls before singer-songwriterly commentary." He also said that on the album, House begins the process of doing something with noise, but that he does not go far enough.[12] In Billboard, David Sprague wrote that Bait and Switch "retain[s] the relaxed, lo-fi vibe" that was apparent on the band's early singles.[4]