7% Solution were formed in Austin by guitarist and vocalist Reese Beeman, a Texas transplant originally from Mississippi, to perform improvised jams in a style reminiscent of both Can's avantgarde experiments and Pink Floyd's early psychedelic suites. Their "lo-fi" cassettes 7% Solution (X-Ray) and Sugar (X-Ray) established them in the crowded Texan psychedelic scene.

The line-up solidified with the arrival of guitarist James Adkisson and the sound veered towards a form of space-rock without the edge: a texture of dreamy solos and instrumental trance but enlivened by a melodic, song-oriented approach that may at times recall REM and Radiohead. That quality is what makes All About Satellites And Spaceships (X-Ray, 1996) outstanding in that year's musical cene: 7% Solution adds more dynamics (and melody) to the drone-driven ambient psychedelia of the shoegazers. Built On Sands and The Road And The Common border on a more rocking brand of Mazzy Star's atmospheric pop. Revolve sounds like an excerpt from Jimi Hendrix's Third Stone From The Sun. Vocally, Beeman's obsession with Jeff Buckley is also beginning to pay off.

The single Lullaby (Hidden Agenda, 1997) introduces the three-guitar attack of Beeman, Adkisson and new member Julian Capps, but Gabriel's Waltz (X-Ray, 1999), a concept album centered around the musical form of the waltz, mostly disappoints with a self-indulgent take on Stereolab (minus the layered harmonies) and Tortoise (substitute waltz for dub). Between melodic hard-rock (Bruise), Neil Young balladry (Dear Anne, Threshold) and instrumental jam (Gabriel's Waltz), the band carves itself a unique place in the history of Texas psychedelic rock.