The News Review:
- 1. MUSIC FOR MYANMAR
- OFF THE WALL
- Huntington Beach Punk Heroes the Vandals Rock Iraq Afghanistan…
- Pep With a Dose of Pathos
- CLUB SCENE: Alberta Breeze blows into Music Club
1. MUSIC FOR MYANMAR
Washington Post – May 15, 2008
BISHOP ALLEN — Today at 8 p. This indie duo out of Brooklyn plays tempo-shifting music that when slow is calm skilled acoustic guitar and when fast is reminiscent of Arcade Fire. With the War on Drugs and Deleted Scenes. Black Cat 1811 14th St… X– Wednesday doors at 7:30 p. punks have proved that they have a very long shelf life indeed.
OFF THE WALL
San Diego Union Tribune – May 15, 2008
Sometimes it’s very aggressive like the snare drums and the rhythm is very groovy. Have you always been a norteño fan? When I was young I remember I hated the norteño music because it was the music my parents used to listen to. I used to listen to punk rock industrial music noisy stuff. But then when you are getting older you start opening your ears to other types of music. I got into norteño because I started going into the local cantinas and I was there and cantinas here in Tijuana they only used to play that so my ears started working as if they were some kind of analog filter listening in the cantina to norteño stuff and then in my mind I was processing the rhythms and melodies. When you tour abroad what do people ask you about Tijuana? It seems like everyone in the world knows about Tijuana because they know about the border and the violence and the immigration. They know a lot of things about Tijuana and the most common thing is they think it’s a very wild dangerous place.
Huntington Beach Punk Heroes the Vandals Rock Iraq Afghanistan…
OC Weekly – May 15, 2008
(There are no original members left. )”I never imagined us recording at the BBC that’s for sure” he comments in reflecting on the band’s atypically long and successful trajectory. “I just imagined [the Vandals] as a punk band that would play when not performing life’s other obligations. That’s exactly what it is now. It’s bigger than I thought it would be but punk rock is bigger than I thought it would be so relatively it’s not that far off from what I imagined. If your punk band is your main job how punk is it really?”The Vandals are not Escalante’s main job (he’s a morning DJ on Indie FM 103. 1; the owner of Kung Fu Records the Vandals’ label; and a lawyer strangely enough) nor are they the main occupation for singer Dave Quackenbush (who runs an alcohol-distribution company) drummer Josh Freese (a studio musician) or guitarist Warren Fitzgerald (Orange County girl Gwen Stefani’s musical director)… The industry will adjust or lower its expectations in order to survive at all. Honestly if someone asked me about music as a commodity when I was 16 I would have been offended by lumping the two things together. But I think once the dust has settled with new technology and such a new paradigm will stabilize. As of now it’s a mix between the Wild West and Armageddon. The band navigated the Bush version of such apocalypse performing for troops in Iraq Afghanistan and Germany and they were accused of being supporters of the president’s war. “The band and Kung Fu Records paid a great price in Europe for playing for the troops in Iraq” Escalante says.
Pep With a Dose of Pathos
Washington Post – May 15, 2008
” is a spunky fusion of both elements with loud guitars and shouted vocals playing off the band’s full-time violin player and a liberal dose of glockenspiel. “We do have these fun playful elements and that really contrasts with some of the lyrics because they can be quite dark and scathing” Aleksandra says. “I personally don’t shy away from people calling our music playful — it’s a nice way to categorize it. “Aleksandra shares vocal duties with Gareth who is the band’s songwriter. She is right: Though the melodies are often bright the lyrics are often grim.
CLUB SCENE: Alberta Breeze blows into Music Club
London Free Press – May 15, 2008
His official CD release party will take place in Toronto on May 30 (with Melissa McClelland set to open). Unlike most bands in its genre Social Code isn’t boiling with anger or singing songs of sorrow. Instead Social Code wants to break free from the mould and provide listeners with uplifting and inspiring lyrics. The Alberta-based band stepped into success in 2004 with the release of its debut album A Year at the Movies and the hit single Beautiful. Last year the band jumped back on the scene with its self-titled sophomore album.