Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Tera Melos to unleash their Rats




Click image above to watch video

Tera Melos are up to something different... something devious... something infectious: the long-running Sacramento punk-jazz trio are unleashing rats this fall. Not literally, but Patagonian Rats the band's first proper full-length, which is packed with wily melodies and scurrying rhythms. Check out the first MP3 "Frozen Zoo" taken from the album HERE. Alternately, fans can download the song in any file format HERE

Watch a pair of fittingly bizarre and captivating teaser videos with song snippets: Patagonian Rats I and Patagonian Rats II

Have Tera Melos gone… pop? Well, no….but yes. Much like the trio's intricate and complex song structures, it's not quite that simple. Tera Melos' songs have traditionally been densely packed with so many wild shifts of time signature and chord structures that guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Nick Reinhart jokes they were sounds that, "only wizards could decipher." 

Patagonian Rats is packed with melodic hooks and jabs that on paper might seem to defy the band's experimental edge. There's even clear and distinct vocals throughout -- a first for the band, where vocals, if any, were previously awash with distortion and layered in the mix. But, particulars aside, Patagonian Rats is the type of album that sticks with you.

Occasionally, "pop" music has really meant daring music. Like the Beach Boys in the late 60s, The Clash in the 70s, Devo in the 80s, Flaming Lips in the 90s -- the greatest artists have dared to make music that is hooky while also being groundbreaking. Patagonian Rats evokes images of bizarre and fantastic alternate realities. Think about the first time you heard "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys; jarring collisions of a cappella harmonies, tremolo-washed bass and chirping theremin. The key is not to understand it, but to let the music transform everyday reality into something new. And, that is the essence of Patagonian Rats.

The album opens with whispered vocals and waltzing organ notes of 35-second intro, "So Occult" that just barely settles in before abruptly tumbling into the blitzkrieg haunting refrain of "Kelly". The latter a simple, ascending riff of phased-out guitar, reverb-drenched vocals and marching rhythms that plays out like that single line from a favorite pop song that gets stuck in your head, constantly on repeat. "The Skin Surf" juts in to the proceedings, quickly shifting to a frenetic Black Flag-meets-the-Ventures wrestling match that truly showcases the impeccable musicianship of Reinhart, bassist Nathan Latona and drummer John Clardy. "All my friends will try and say," Reinhart sings -- not so much with foolhardy bravado, but rather as if from the view of eternity. Elsewhere, "Trident Tail" evokes Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd; the music is studious and deliberate, while also infectious and hummable. 

Tera Melos formed in 2004 as a quartet, releasing their first self-titled disc in 2005 (later re-released by Sargent House in 2008). The band became a trio in late 2006, releasing the Drugs to the Dear Youth EP early the following year. A split disc with By The End of Tonight (2007) on Temporary Residence and an EP of cover songs, Idioms, Vol 1 followed in 2009. In the meantime, Reinhart collaborated with prolific drummer Zach Hill under the band name bygones, releasing the by- album in 2009 and Spiritual Bankruptcy EP in 2010, both on Sargent House. Clardy has also recently spent downtime as the touring drummer with guitar goddess Marnie Stern.

Patagonian Rats will be available everywhere via Sargent House on September 7th, 2010. 



Artist: Tera Melos
Album: Patagonian Rats
Label: Sargent House
Release Date: September 7th, 2010





01. So Occult
02. Kelly
03. The Skin Surf
04. Aped
05. Trident Tail
06. Frozen Zoo (MP3) (any file format)
07. In Citrus Heights
08. Skywatch
09. Party With Gina
10. Another Surf
11. Westham United
12. A New Uniform/Patagonia


Hi-Res photos, cover art and bio:

On the Web:

Tera Melos are available for interviews. For more information, please contact Dave Clifford at dave@usthemgroup.com

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Monday, June 14, 2010

Pop power-trio MakeUpBreakUp announce debut album and summer tour dates



Pop power-trio MakeUpBreakUp announce debut album and summer tour dates


"'Fall Into Her Love Trap' and 'Blame Game' would have been perfect if they came out in the 1980's and filmmaker John Huges needed a song for a Molly Ringwald montage in one of his teen angst movies...Makeupbreakup embodies that intellectual yet playful aesthetic." -- Outburn Magazine 

"With a sound that somehow mixes 'Golden Years' David Bowie with the best aspects of Depeche Mode, catchy hooks made up of Moog riffs so sweet they should come with a FDA warning for diabetics." -- Popwreckoning 

Providence, RI pop power-trio MakeUpBreakUp have announced the late summer release of the band's debut full length, Scents. The group's effervescent sound invites comparisons to a blend of 90s Britpop and 80s new wave. Fall tour dates throughout the US eastern coast (please see current dates below) are being arranged to tie in with the album release. 

Check out the first two MP3s for the album, for "Wow" (HERE) and "My Way, To The Top" (HERE).

Forming in the summer of 2007, MakeUpBreakUp has been catching the ears, eyes and libidos of the public from the start. With just a handful of pop-minded demos and a couple of shows to their name, Mike Lamantia Jr, Eric McNeil and Zan (formerly of A Trillion Barnacle Lapse, Rockethouse, and Groupthink fame) signed to California's S.A.F. Records for the release of the trio's debut EP, We Prefer Not To… 

Upon the EP's release in August 2008, the trio received widespread critical acclaim and references to New Order, John Hughes soundtracks, and “Golden Years” era David Bowie, culminating in a glossy spot in Outburn Magazine. Local recognition was also in order, as The Providence Phoenix named We Prefer Not To… among the best local albums of the year. Similar success followed over the radio waves, with the EP charting strongly on the CMJ 200 charts, and holding its ground for more than a month. The boys have continually supported the EP on the road, with three east coast tours, and opening slots for national indie acts such as Inner Party System, Diplo, and HEALTH.

MakeUpBreakUp has continued to be characteristically productive since then, putting the finishing touches on their debut LP, Scents to be released August 2010. Fans can catch MakeUpBreakUp on tour this fall, or posted up at the bar at Chilangos in Providence, sitting on horse saddles, drinking colorful margaritas, and discussing the functions and merits of the reptile brain.

MakeUpBreakUp live:
06/17    Providence, RI @ 88.1 FM WELH - BSR Live Block
07/22    Providence, RI @ AS220
08/29    New York, NY @ Cake Shop
09/02    Chapel Hill, NC @ The Cave
09/04    Myrtle Beach, SC @ Crazy J's Bar


Artist: Makeupbreakup


Album: Scents
Label: Cozy
Release Date: August 31st, 2010

01. Wow (MP3)
02. My Way, To The Top (MP3)
03. Chrome
04. Scents
05. May Rx
06. I'm John River, I Won't Stop
07. Better Days
08. Sexsomnia
09. Create Something From Nothing



On the Web:





MakeUpBreakUp are available for interviews. For more information, please contact Dave Clifford at dave@usthemgroup.com