The band formed in 1991 and was quickly signed to Thurston Moore's label Ecstatic Peace who released their first single. A few months later they signed with Germany's City Slang label to record their first album, Slo-Blo, which led to the band's signing with DGC records in the US.Cell toured the world several times with Sonic Youth, Pavement, Sugar and many others, including a stint on the Lollapalooza second stage in 1993 with Royal Trux. They also had two music videos aired on MTV's 120 Minutes several times.
The band broke up after touring for their second album in 1995.