From their debut, Thanks For The Ether, in 1996 (or 1896, as the band cheekily maintains), to their soon-to-be-released fourth album, Rasputina have steadily defied pigeon-holes and forged their unlikely way into the mainstream.

Leader Melora Creager started on a mission to make funny, depressing music with her cello and voice back at the beginning of the ’90s. She found like-minded cellists through a classified ad and by 1996 the band’s penchant for vintage Victorian dress and novel approach to goth music had attracted the attention of the major labels.

Marilyn Manson also took notice, remixing one of their tracks for the Transylvanian Regurgitations EP in 1997.

Several albums and lineup changes later, Rasputina resurfaced last year with two new members, cellist Zoe Keating and drummer Jonathon TeBeest (the group’s first male). Their new album, Frustration Plantation, comes out March 16 on Instinct.