The Van Pelt is an American indie rock band from New York, United States.

Formed in 1993 at New York University featuring Chris Leo (formerly of Native Nod and brother of Ted Leo) on vocals and guitar, Brian Maryansky on guitar, Toko Yasuda (formerly of Blonde Redhead) on bass, and Neil O'Brien on drums. Yasuda left the band in 1996 and was replaced by new bassist Sean Greene for the remainder of their existence. The band released two albums: Stealing from Our Favorite Thieves and Sultans of Sentiment, on Gern Blandsten Records in 1996 and 1997 respectively, an EP and several split 7" vinyl's.

The Van Pelt disbanded in 1997, with Leo and Yasuda forming a new band called The Lapse that year, and Maryansky later joining the band Jets to Brazil in 1998.

The band reunited in 2009 for two shows, playing one show on June 20 at the Blackcat in Washington, D.C. with Frodus, and another on June 21 at Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In February 2014 it was announced that the band would be issuing a record of previous unreleased material recorded around 1996 and 1997 titled Imaginary Third. On December 6, 2022, the band announced via Instagram that a fourth studio album, entitled Artisans & Merchants, would be released in March 2023. This album marks the first new recordings by the band since the 1990s. The record will be released by Spartan Records in North America, Gringo Records in the UK and La Castanya in Europe and the rest of the world.

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