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Divider imageKyle Andrews Helps Set World Record In New Video, US Tour Begins Today

MP3: “Lov3r” via Filter Magazine
MP3 & Stream: “You Always Make Me Smile (Remix!)“ & more via KyleAndrews.com

Today marks the beginning of Kyle Andrews mania on the web with the debut of his world record breaking video for “You Always Make Me Smile” premiering on the front page of YouTube this morning. With 120,000 balloons and 4000 people, the video sought to set a new Guinness world record for largest water balloon fight.

Kyle Andrews’ new EP, KANGAROO, is out today on Elephant Lady Records. The songwriter has enjoyed a recent abundance of interest and new fans with the placement of his jaunty tune “You Always Make Me Smile” playing an integral part of Holiday Inn’s “Stay You” advertising campaign. Airing heavily on international television and online, there are many different versions of the ad with all of them using “You Always Make Me Smile” as the central theme throughout each commercial. The single (available now) is a taste of the warm, summery pop on his new six-song EP.

Like all of Kyle’s work, KANGAROO is addictively catchy with measured doses of pulsing synths and drum machines, but it belies an endearing homespun sweetness that stands out among DIY songwriters/producers. Recorded entirely in his bedroom, KANGAROO is Andrews’ fifth release following a string of other successful, self-produced full-lengths and EPs. Kyle made his mark in 2006 with his first full-length, Amos in Ohio. NPR syndicated station WXPN dubbed it “instantly memorable…packed with infectious hooks” and Kyle promptly answered the praise the following year with a seven song EP entitled Find Love, Let Go. NPR had high praise for his 2009 release Real Blasty describing it as “…an upbeat album for sad people who just want to dance…Andrews pulls it off by pairing his angst with bright electro-pop rhythms and irresistible hooks.”

Kyle Andrews will hit the road this fall in support of KANGAROO and has shared the stage with The Submarines, The Morning Benders, Josh Rouse and Peter Bjorn and John in the past. His live show is full of energy and not to be missed – a first round of fall dates have been announced and more dates will be revealed soon.

UPCOMING SHOWS

Aug 31 – New York, NY @ Cake Shop
Sept 1 – Baltimore, MD @ Cyclops
Sept 2 – Philadelphia, PA @ Manhattan Room
Sept 3 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge (sponsored by Lighting 100 WRLT)
Sept 4 – Nashville, TN @ Grimey’s (in-store performance)
Sept 4 – Chattanooga, TN @ JJ’s Bohemia
Sept 8 – Louisville, KY @ TBD
Sept 9 – Bloomington, IN @ 902’s
Sept 10 – Chicago, IL @ Mayne Stage
Sept 11 – Evansville, IN @ Duck Inn
Sept 24 – Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle
Oct 1 – Nashville, TN @ Next Big Nashville
Oct 20 – New York, NY @ CMJ

“an addictively catchy EP bursting with synths, drum machines and Kyle’s forgiving vocals, Kangaroo will hook you on your first listen.” Filter Magazine

“A caffeine-riddled energetic blast full of feel-good pop songwriting.” Redefine Magazine

“Kyle Andrews’ most recent release proves that angry isn’t always the answer. The album is six tracks long and combine together to form a genuine pick-me-up.” Stereo Subversion




Divider imageBrooklyn’s Kordan To Release Their Upbeat, Shoegazing Dream-pop Debut Full-length This October

Mp3: “Mirror” via Soundcloud

The Brooklyn indie-rock, dream-pop trio Kordan are set to release their anticipated first full-length album this October. Their shoegazey-electro textures take cue from the guitar drones of late 80s/early 90s groups like Ride or Swervedriver and are driven by propulsive, post-punk rhythms and synths of earlier Factory/Mute releases. More contemporarily, think a more melancholy, darker (but still dancey) flipside to the upbeat indie pop of The Drums. Don’t sleep!

Sifting through traces of quantum universes, Kordan find the lush textures, pulsating beats, and somber melodies that they use to project dreams of bleak, dismal cities in a holographic future. But just below this mournful atmosphere there is also flicker of energy, like one of those cities is slowly flickering back on after a blackout. Lumines- cent synths build on scratchy guitars and the electricity of the city finally rushes back on.

Arthur (vocals/guitar), Liz (vocals/synth), and Gabo (bass) emerged from the vibrant rave and indie rock scenes in Puerto Rico during the early 2000s. After different stints found them in different parts of the US, the trio converged in Brooklyn. Together again, they began to fuse an electro glint and a shoegaze murk, and thus forged Kordan.

In the fall of 2008, Cut Copy heard the band’s songs and chose Kordan as an opening act on their North American tour, taking them through Minneapolis, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, and back to New York City. In the summer of 2009 Kordan released their demo recordings as the Fantasy Nation EP, garner- ing critical acclaim from Filter, Jezebel, and Oh My Rockness, among others. The debut release heralded Kordan’s aural world, tinged by futuristic visions and Japanese street culture. The following autumn months saw Kordan playing a CMJ showcase and shows in New York City, including opening for The Drums and The Mary Onettes. They have also brought their sonic influences to other bands, having done remixes for ZAZA and The Delta Mirror.

The Longing, their first full-length album, expands the dystopian city they built on Fantasy Nation, making way for a full-fledged love story in a hazy metropolis circa the year 2036. Somewhere in a bleak, run-down Tokyo neighborhood, someone drifts through the crowds, holograms, and faded neon to reunite with a loved one he hasn’t seen in years. In this vast metropolis of millions, loneliness has become his prison. The longing he has felt for her and the memories of what could have become have become his only reality.

“They have created a cerebral gesture, an atmospheric ride through Tokyo’s cityscape.” -Jezebel Music

“Fantasy Nation is one of the most memo- rable debut releases of the year, and listening to it shows why Cut Copy demanded Kordan to be their opening act last year after hearing the songs on this EP.” – Obscure Sounds

“If you like any of that old shoe-gaze Britpop stuff, then Kordan has a stronger than fight- ing chance to become a part of your listening life.” – Oh My Rockness

Last Bummer Records

Posted by Marcus on August 31st, 2010 in Free Music, On the Web, What's Next, and tagged with , , , . | Leave a comment



Divider imageRevolver Celebrates Astralwerks Debut With Exclusive Filter Live Video, Other Exclusive Tracks

Video: “Nevertheless (I’m In Love With You)” via Filter
MP3: “Luke, Mike and John (Demo Version)” via My Old Kentucky Blog
MP3: “Do You Have a Gun (Demo mp3)” via Popmatters

This week, the anticipated stateside import of the French Grammy nominated debut from France’s Revolver was finally released. To celebrate the release week of Music For A While, Revolver have rolled out a handful of new goodies. Filter Magazine premiered the recently recorded video cover of “Nevertheless” by 1930’s pop jazz talebearers The Mills Brothers, while early demo versions of album cuts “Do You Have A Gun?” and “Luke, Mike & John” were also unveiled. The band is preparing for their US debut at the OohLaLA Festival in Los Angeles on October 1st alongside other French acts such as Sebastien Tellier, The Gotan Project, Kavinsky, and more.

Music For A While was recorded in Paris’s Studio Pigalle. Revolver Producer Julien Delfaud (Phoenix, Herman Dune), helped Revolver hone their fantastically eclectic and century-skipping ideas, as well as gave the band the ability to recall the sunshine harmonies of Simon & Garfunkel and the Beach Boys, both of whom the band has always loved. Revolver’s melodies can be traced to 16th century songwriters and 17th century British Baroque composers, as well. Each of these styles defined the popular melodic and harmonic structures of their respective generations, and Revolver offers us a modern take blending each of these pop histories.

Posted by Marcus on August 31st, 2010 in Free Music, On the Web, Out Now, and tagged with , , , , , . | Leave a comment



Divider imageTrumans Water Announces Rare Live Shows; Ripping New Album “O Zeta Zunis” Out This Week On Asthmatic Kitty

MP3s: “We Fish” & “5-7-10 Split” via Stereogum

This week legendary noisy guitar stranglers Trumans Water return to the fold with an amazing new album showing the band hasn’t lost a step in their 7 year hiatus. Their 13th release in their 19 year existence, O Zeta Zunis finds the band as skronkily uncompromising still but the album is very direct and even catchy. To celebrate the new record, Trumans Water has some very rare stateside live engagements. Don’t miss if you are in the area!

Aug 24: Portland, OR – East End
Aug 25: Bellingham, WA – Cabin Tavern
Aug 26: Seattle, WA – Funhouse

Stay tuned for when Asthmatic Kitty re-releases much of their hard-to-find catalog this November.

“It’d be swell if a few of those sockless kids who’ve formed Pavementy, willfully lo-fi bands in the last year or two skronked themselves up in this manner and stopped writing songs about going to the beach.” Drowned In Sound

“None of their original fire and intensity has waned over the years” Line Of Best Fit

Ah, America — she loves a comeback, she does. Even the hint of its possibility tantalizes. Plays so well in Peoria (and elsewhere). Is it part of the USA’s national character to welcome back its own to any notable prominence, to celebrate a reclamation earned through reassertion, revivifying accomplishment — or retrospective reassessment?

Trumans Water never really went away. Scarce in their native land, yes — that, indeed, the veteran American “spazz-rock”/”squiggle-core” group has been in recent years. (Increasingly more obscure as well, relatively unknown to untold pods of younger blog-rockin’ folk — sharp-eared discerners, who might well luv TW were they to know TW — if still deemed “legendary” by those who, a) remember Trumans’ halcyon days in America’s early/mid-’90s “guitar-rock” underground; b) recall the life-altering praise from abroad, with the late great all-time tip-top good-taste-making radio DJ John Peel championing them over international airwaves, and the Melody Maker making this pithy 1993 assessment: “Sonic freaks with a lust for life, Trumans Water make Pavement sound like U2.” Hear, hear? Not bad — but your call.)

For over a dozen years, the Water’s arguably been more of a foreign affair, with releases on European labels, touring almost exclusively “over there” yet consistently recording stateside. But enough with the history (for now). Because the rock o’ Trumans Water lives in the present. Their new album O Zeta Zunis sounds remarkably fresh if also in keeping with a fistful of enduring collective aesthetic TW identities: the ever-active, wildly clawing, rough-toned brace of guitars; the sour-sweet sing-shout screech-croon ‘n’ power-yowl; the explosive rhythms, herking here and jerking there, none too predictable anywhere.

O Zeta Zunis may be Trumans Water’s studio album-proper #13 — or not, if ya count such various full-length Trumans cassette releases as Couch of the Spastics on Chocolate Monk or Cough Forth Such Dilemmas on Union Pole. Whatev. It certainly is their first new album since 2003 and, so importantly, it is coming out in these United States (and elsewhere) on Asthmatic Kitty Records. (The label will offer quality downloads; the band will put out a limited number of vinyl copies on their Justice My Eye/Elevated Loin imprint.) AKR will be their first truly stable domestic label home of the new millennium. (What’s more, Asthmatic Kitty is planning to catch up any interested parties in coming months by digitally re-releasing elusive albums of the Trumans Water discography.).

O Zeta Zunis is a cohesive foursome ripping confidently, a few slowed-up passages helping to accentuate the melodic riff-drive of “Last Time” or the balls-out whizz-bang of “Greased Water,” the twitchy-catchy frolic of “5-7-10 Split” or the rubbery buzz-chug of “You Live Out Loud.” Nice. There’re loping jams and snappy sputter-blasts as well. Essence of Trumans. And, as detailed, O Zeta Zunis brings the Water back to the United States — in some literal ways that’ve not been seen in over a dozen years. (Along with playing Europe, TW plan to do some actual North American touring to support this/other Asthmatic Kitty product.) Yeah, Trumans Water — those friendly fellows are of the world but they’re America’s and they never left so won’t you please welcome them back?

Liner notes after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Jay on August 23rd, 2010 in On the Web, Out Now, and tagged with , , , , , . | Leave a comment



Divider imageHelsinki’s Husky Rescue To Release the Icy, Ethereal “Ship Of Light” In the US This October

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MP3: “We Shall Burn” from Ship of Light
MP3: “They Are Coming (Warrior One Remix)” via RCRD LBL

“It’s all very Nordic, and awfully pleasing – the kind of adult pop that Air were promising us with their first album, before they were sidetracked.” The Guardian UK

“Husky Rescue’s first two albums were packed with potential. Ship of Light is the album on which the Helsinki band realise it, raising their game, adding a new level of pop accessibility and threatening to move beyond their cult status to charm a wider audience.” The Sunday Times

“With softly grained melodies and the accomplished orchestration we come to expect from the Scandinavians, this is therefore a nocturnal winter treat from Husky Rescue. They offer so much more than your standard chill out fare, with songs that burn brightly in the darkness, and with words that can freeze you to the bone or, more likely, offer warmth in the coldness of winter.” MusicOMH.com

Husky Rescue is composer Marko Nyberg communicating a world of magic, beauty, spiritual awareness, and the idea of a hopeful sect sharing a common world-view to his listeners. This “sect” of course being the group itself, a collective of close friends as much as musicians. The Finnish band’s third album on Catskills Records, Ship of Light, will be released in October 2010 in the US.

Husky Rescue started their international career in 2004 with style. Their debut “Country Falls” introduced the pop-savvy and compositional stylings of Marko Nyberg, the Helsinki-based ensemble’s primus motor. Essential to the Husky Rescue sound was also Reeta-Leena Korhola on vocals, delivering each line with remarkable intensity and emotion. The cinematic sceneries found on the debut were further expanded on 2006’s “Ghost is Not Real”.

After releasing and touring the first two Husky albums, Nyberg at first didn’t have a clear-cut blueprint for the evolution of the band’s sound. But learning about a reported UFO sighting near his home just outside central Helsinki further turned his interest towards nature, thus propelling a new wave of inspiration. He sees hope and beauty in the Northern surroundings, and embarking on a solitary songwriting trip to Lapland early on in the process was a crucial decision in the making of Ship of Light.

Another important feature of the album’s strikingly innovative sound is the use of instrumentation that Nyberg feels a personal connection to. One of his tools-of-the-trade is the rare Memorymoog, an organ-like instrument yielding a sound like no other. Nyberg remembers longing after one in childhood, and he stumbled upon one before starting on the third Husky album. His Memorymoog sound of choice on the recording sessions was number 74, coincidentally also his year of birth.

Opening up a new chapter in the Husky Rescue saga, Ship of Light sounds familiar yet strikingly fresh and unique to those who’ve discovered the band during their first two albums. The current edition of Husky Rescue occupies its space more actively, getting under the listeners’ skin in a style reminiscent of an aural representation of postmodern film noir. More intense in ambience, the album also comes across as more communal in terms of the band’s mutual communication. Indeed, they recorded bits an pieces of it at remote cottages and the like, prompting Nyberg to call the ensemble “a contemporary musical congregation”.

Cuts such as the first single ‘We Shall Burn Bright’ stand as ample evidence of this. They are sonically rich and filled with the class A musical handicraft evident on every ounce of the album. The songs each sit comfortably within the framework, while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of the frame they’re working in.

The Husky Rescue sound mk3 is live, inviting the listener into aural adventures not easily pinpointed at any one location, genre, or scene. The imagined open spaces coming through from the music could as well be in Finland, Norway or Nevada.

Ship of Light is about a transition into something better. Marko Nyberg and his trusty Huskies recorded the album’s opening soundscape “First Call” in the middle of a forest on a dark autumn night, using wooden flakes on a string. This ancient sound instrument is used traditionally to keep evil spirits away, and the Husky songsmith sees a strong thematical connection here.

Furthermore, Ship of Light is a celebration of old school musical craftsmanship at work. As the Swedish studio engineer Niklas Flyckt fittingly pointed out to Nyberg when mixing tracks on the album, “your drums sound shit but you know it”. Why aim for something sterile when you can make it life-like?

Posted by Jay on August 19th, 2010 in Free Music, On the Web, What's Next, and tagged with , , , . | Leave a comment



Divider imagePuro Instinct/Pearl Harbor, Tan Dollar, Highlight Free Paul A. Rosales Comp ‘Wonder Wheel Presents’

COMPILATION: Wonder Wheel Presents available via Wonder Wheel’s site

“Allow me to present you with my friends. Its all Southern California music here. Besides recording Wonder Wheel I, I’ve recorded and helped produce a number of local bands since 2003. Only now with a larger repertoire and network, the music has coalesced into a bright and happy zone that can’t be held back much longer. Some of these names you have heard before, some not at all; either way you will enjoy the lush collection of California dudes and dudettes.

2 songs each from: Tan Dollar, Pearl Harbor / Puro Instinct, Wonder Wheel, Cosmonauts, Muddy Flowers, Dash Jacket, Stellarphone and Moon Pearl.”

– Paul A. Rosales, August 2010




Divider imageNotes From The Nest: Picture Us Tumblin’, Interns Wanted & Press Round-Up

Matias Aguayo Stars In Our Meme Of The Week

Happy Friday! It’s been a big week at the Terrorbird offices in Brooklyn where we’ve been as many as seven strong with Jay moving to Brooklyn and the inimitable Tim Jones visiting from our LA office. In addition to a bunch of awesome records going for adds at radio, we’re starting some new PR projects, and the licensing department continues to tear it up on small & silver screens.

This week we started a Tumblr blog. Follow us and we’ll follow back. The Tumblr will be a little more informal than this here blog, and we’ll be posting and reblogging MP3s and general things we think are rad.

We’re also still looking for another intern in our Brooklyn office! Preferably someone interested in PR & social media, although we’re still accepting applications for radio interns as well. Please e-mail Matthew (matthew at terrorbird dot com) with some information about yourself if you’re interested.

Finally, here are some things from around the web about our roster…

- Upstart LA label Proximal Records dropped their debut compilation Proximity One: A Narrative of a City including tracks from Dam-Funk, Daedelus & Tokimonsta, but there’s so much more good stuff on this it isn’t funny
- Reporter also made their debut with Time Incredible and announced a tour of the west coast
- Proggy popsters Social Studies premiered a new track at RCRD LBL
- “Stonehenge punks” Heavy Cream were featured on Brooklyn Vegan
- Finally, Baths was featured by Pitchfork’s Guest List (& he name-checked Husky Rescue who you’ll be hearing plenty about soon!)

Posted by Jay on August 13th, 2010 in On the Web, and tagged with , , , , , , , , , . | Leave a comment



Divider imageSocial Studies Take Their Kaleidoscopic Pop To The Road, Get The Remix Treatment From Ernest Gonzales

MP3: “The Battle Of Shiloh (Ernest Gonzales Remix)” via RCRD LBL
MP3: “Holler Boys” & “Time Bandit” via RCRD LBL

Social Studies‘ Wind Up Wooden Heart tempers the lines of the angular and experimental with a love of unadulterated pop songwriting, and heightens the arching vocal melodies with dramatic twists and turns. In ten tracks, the band offers us a glimpse into a prophetic future that, upon closer look, is crumbling with nostalgia and regret. The songs mirror the contradictory themes that run through the album with a balance between danceable melodies and unique structures that break out of the “verse/chorus/verse” boundaries.

With consistently catchy melodies, Natalia’s enchanting voice, masterful engineering by Jay Pellicci (Deerhoof, Subtle, Erase Errata), and special guest appearances by members of Bright Eyes and Thee More Shallows, Social Studies have crafted an album that’s equally infectious and innovative. Wind Up Wooden Heart (out now on Antenna Farm) is pop music fully realized for a modern era, and it’s a debut LP that begs to be talked about, sung along to, and played on repeat.

The band will embark on a West Coast tour throughout August and will be doing a full US tour this October. For those that can’t make it to their shows, Texas-based beatmaker Ernest Gonzales (aka Mexicans with Guns) offers a fresh remix of Social Studies’ “Battle of Shiloh” to whet your appetite.

Praise for their new full-length “Wind Up Wooden Heart”

“Wind Up Wooden Heart shows off the band’s way with brainy, unpredictable indie pop. One moment, they sound like Broadcast, if that band deigned to record on Earth instead of their spaceship studio; the next, they recall Cryptacize’s percussion experiments and vocal gymnastics; and every now and then, shades of Fol Chen’s kaleidoscope pop spring up without warning.” All Music Guide

“Rogovin’s Feisty vocals are intoxicating, but the interplay of her retro key riffs with drummer Michael Jirkovsky’s aggressive rhythms is what’s truly magnificent.” The Boston Phoenix

“Packed with anthems that favor broad musical strokes, and the album’s cross-pollination of influences ensure a little something for everyone.” Venus Zine

UPCOMING SHOWS
8.12 Origami Vinyl, Los Angeles CA (6pm)
8.12 6th St. Warehouse, Los Angeles CA
8.13 The Mime, Los Angeles CA w/ Former Ghosts, 60 Watt Kid
8.17 Rotture, Portland OR
8.19 Chop Suey, Seattle WA
8.20 Backspace, Portland OR
8.22 Rock Make Street Fest, San Francisco CA
8.23 The Hub, Sacramento CA




Divider imageNashville’s Heavy Cream Premiere “Watusi” On Brooklyn Vegan; ‘Danny’ LP Out 8/24 Via Infinity Cat Recordings

MP3: “Watusi” via Brooklyn Vegan

Hot off the sold out debut 7″ EP, Heavy Cream return with their debut full-length vinyl LP Danny on 8/24 via Infinity Cat Recordings.

Heavy Cream’s aura is the color bad.

They are three girls and one guy from Nashville, Tennessee that play rock and roll Stonehenge punk.

Their music is youth incarnate; fast and loud and exuberant.

Produced by JEFF The Brotherhood’s Jake Orrall, the album is heavy on fast, fun and irresistable hooks like fan favorites “Tina”, “Lava Lamp”, and “Hawkwound”. The first single, “Watusi”, feels like the kind of song that was made to make the summer last well into November.

Aug 18, 2010 – Exit In (w/Screaming Females & JEFF The Brotherhood)
Nashville TN
Aug 20, 2010 – Rock’s Off Cruise (w/Detroit Cobras)21+ New York, NY
Aug 22, 2010 – Comet Ping Pong (w/Vivian Girls) Washington, DC
Aug 26, 2010 – Discoteca (w/Gestapo & Khazi) Chattanooga, TN
Aug 27, 2010 – Pilot Light Knoxville, TN
Aug 28, 2010 – Snug Harbor Charlotte, NC
Aug 30, 2010 – The Box Charlottesville, VA
Aug 31, 2010 – Black Cat (w/Unnatural Helpers) Washington
Sep 1, 2010 – Union Pool (w/Boogie Boarder) Brooklyn, NY
Sep 2, 2010 – Cake Shop (w/Unnatural Helpers) New York, NY
Sep 3, 2010 – Flywheel (w/Sweet Apple) Easthampton, MA
Sep 4, 2010 – The Meat Locker Montclair, NJ
Sep 5, 2010 – Elf Parlor North Adams, MA
Sep 6, 2010 – The Rock Shop (w/Pterodactyl, Dinowalrus) Brooklyn, NY
Sep 7, 2010 – Death By Audio New York, NY
Oct 8, 2010 – Hi-Tone (w/JEFF The Brotherhood & Cy Barkley) Memphis TN

“Infinity Cat’s answer to The Runaways: playing quick, straightforward, Ramones-y numbers with plenty of bopping energy and little pretense.” Nashville Scene

“Nashville’s new rockers Heavy Cream just released their debut EP on Infinity Cat. Five lo-fi tracks of stripped-down twangy punk. Go see them. They’re a blast live.” Civil War Syndrome

“Man, we will never get tired of these babies. I mean, do we really need to write a review of their show? Fine. It ruled. They rocked. So primal. We love them. Go see them. Blah blah blah blah blah…. Seriously, Heavy Cream, you are the apple of Nashville’s eye.” Nashville’s Dead

“Heavy Cream play a set of youthful Stooges-meets-the-Runaways-style dirty proto-punk that recalls the grit of everything that made 1979 an awesome year” Creative Loafing




Divider imageHey Marseilles’ “To Travels & Trunks” Out Tomorrow; Streaming Now At AOL Spinner


Hey Marseilles presents To Travels & Trunks via Onto Entertainment

Stream To Travels & Trunks now at AOL Spinner

MP3: “From A Terrace” via HeyMarseilles.com

“The band’s sound evokes both worldliness and innocence; its orchestral instrumentation is woven together with melodies both melancholy and buoyant.” NPR

“With an orchestra’s worth of instruments at their disposal, the septet comes off like a contemporary pop group inspired by French cabaret classics from the ’20s.” Seattle Weekly

Hey Marseilles’ debut record, To Travels & Trunks grabs your attention with its unique combination of pop, rock, and classical folk elements, and its passionate devotion to instruments (including accordion, viola, cello and trumpet) commonly used in musical idioms outside those typically purveyed by Seattle rock bands. It is this compelling, and often daring, musical mix that enables the band to express the wonder and pleasure of experimenting with art forms from other cultures. One can get a sense of the cultural pilgrimages this band has undertaken in order to satisfy their musical wanderlust. “The album is a reflection of what we’ve tried on musically,” says lead singer and guitar player Matthew Bishop. “It’s about how we’ve come to understand what each individual can bring to the table, and where we want to go from here. Oddly, that parallels what some of what my lyrics are about-travel, discovery, engaging new mediums and new places.”

Despite the exotic origins and youth, To Travels & Trunks can-and should-also be counted as a singular, standout pop album in 2010, with all the requisite addictive melodies and catchy choruses. It’s a story not uncommon: guys who play instruments hang out with other guys who play instruments and music is made. Bishop, guitarist/songwriter Nick Ward, and accordionist Philip Kobernik all met while at the University of Washington right around the time when each began immersing themselves in their own musical exploration. As the trio continued to write and record with each other, they brought in members Sam Anderson on cello, his brother Jacob on viola, Patrick Brannon on trumpet, and Colin Richey on drums.

Lyrically, Bishop says his words don’t necessarily offer answers to the big questions in life, but the questions, when asked the right way, can be just as compelling. “The song are pretty personal,” he says. “There’s a lot about love, struggles with belief, and sense of self. My songs don’t necessarily come to any particular conclusions on the above topics; they mostly open them up for further exploration.” “Cannonballs” uses a specific romantic relationship to explore the need to stand for something and make life worthwhile. “It’s about trying to understand how that’s accomplished in the context of growing up, falling in love, and managing relationships.” Sung almost as a lullaby, lulling the ear with it’s gorgeous melody, the track explodes into a raucous interplay of guitar, strings, and trumpet, as the lyrics celebrate the beautiful sadness that loss can bring. Exuberant single, “Rio” and the mournful “You Will Do For Now” were inspired by the same relationship, one in which the relief of being free from romantic ties is tempered by nagging feelings of loss. But on “Someone to Love,” the tables are turned, as the song’s protagonist deals with being the one left behind. Accompanied only by acoustic guitar and cello, Bishop’s vocals echoes the sentiments voiced in the title track-”All I want is love eternally”–yet this time, the desire is less cosmic than it is personal: “All I want is someone to love/And you were pretty good to love.”

The band sees regular airplay on taste-maker station KEXP and has performed at Bumbershoot, Doe Bay, CMJ, SXSW, The Capitol Hill Block Party and the MusicFest Northwest festival. They’ve also been selected for Starbucks’ nationally distributed compilation entitled Sweethearts Vol. 2. As musical wayfarers, the band enjoys being on the road, exposing people to new combinations of sounds, broadening the definition of what a rock band can achieve. And they’ll spend much of 2010 away from their Pacific Northwest home, exploring the US on their first national tour– so here’s To Travels & Trunks, to venturing out and returning with a heavier load enlightened with discovery.

Posted by Jay on June 28th, 2010 in On the Web, Out Now, and tagged with , , . | Leave a comment



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