posted Jun 12, 2009, 10:19 AM by Vu Nguyen
From tellallyourfriendspr.comCymbals Eat Gutiars Release New Cover Art For "Why There Are Mountains" Debut LP Out Sept 22nd On Sister's Den Records / Play Pitchfork Festival July 18

"You
could blame it on so many bands being from autophobic NYC, or that the
Pacific Northwest gods of indie are still going too strong to already
be a primary influence, but neither would explain New York's Cymbals
Eat Guitars' Why There Are Mountains. While there's plenty of
geographical signifiers on their debut, it's almost topographic in its
approach, without hooks and choruses so much as map-like layouts of
mountains and sloping valleys." -- Pitchfork [Best New Music]
"The
most obvious thing about Cymbals Eat Guitars is that their epic,
widescreen indie rock bears a striking resemblance to that of Built
To Spill and early Modest Mouse." - Fluxblog
"Why
There Are Mountains may be one of the best 'indie' (the album is
self-released, so, y'know, actually 'indie') albums of the year. And
with the major label skyline being obliterated like something out of
Independence Day, it's time to batten down the hatches." - NME
"Staten
Island quartet Cymbals Eat Guitars came out of seemingly nowhere when,
a little under a month ago, their debut album, Why There Are Mountains,
was bestowed Pitchfork's "Best New Music" honor. Who were these guys?
Staten Island, seriously? They were, of course, four hustling musicians
who'd struck gold on the songwriting front, crafting a beastly, obtuse
album that sounds a lot like Built To Spill, if Built To Spill actually
had some youth on their side and could still throw down in a street
fight or get upset over a girl." - RCRD LBL
"“The
band’s sound is hugely ambitious, explosively energetic force of nature
that is clearly influenced by a multitude of 90’s indie rock classics
from Pavement to Built to Spill to Modest Mouse while still achieving something that is forward-looking and unpredictable.” - MTVU
"I’ll
be the first to go on record saying that Cymbals Eat Guitars/Joseph
Ferocious will end up indie famous within the year." - Charles Bissel, The Wrens
“We were at Barnes & Noble today and I was so excited to see Maximum Rock’n’Roll’s still publishing,” says Cymbals Eat Guitars bassist Neil Berenholz, his eyes widening at the very thought. “Joe was just like, ‘What’s that?’”
Welcome
to one of the many contradictions that have shaped Cymbals since the
spring of 2008. First, there’s that age thing, with 32-year-old
Berenholz hailing from the golden age of bedroom recordings,
screen-printed T-shirts and Kinko’d zines, and the rest of the group
reared on genre-jumping iPods and Web sites that can propel or
pulverize an artist’s entire career with a single review. As frontman
Joseph D’Agostino—the band’s co-founder along with drummer Matthew
Miller—is quick to admit, “I’ve been reading Pitchfork since I was in
ninth grade.” Which was also when he discovered “Shady Lane” and
started shedding the alt-rock influences that informed the cover songs
he and Miller hammered out in high school.
The duo’s in
college now, so it seems rather fitting that their full circle moment
didn’t involve a capsule review in a print magazine; it happened when
Pitchfork bestowed the band’s DIY debut, Why There Are Mountains, with
a “Best New Music” stamp soon after its soft release. And we do mean
soft. While many buzz-minded new artists dive straight into Brooklyn’s
bustling music scene, Cymbals Eat Guitars
were happy fine-tuning tracks from the outside, looking in—first in
elaborate demos with the Wrens’ Charles Bissel (starting way back in
the summer of 2007, before the group even had a name), and finally in a
proper studio with Kyle “Slick” Johnson (Modest Mouse, The Hives). Like
many other early fans, Johnson inadvertently discovered Cymbals Eat Guitars on
New York’s Lower East Side circuit, playing the kind of early sets that
come with being spread between Staten Island, Manhattan and Queens.
“We didn’t know anybody in the beginning,” says D’Agostino, “So it was hard to get any shows.”
“And since no one was pursuing us,” continues Berenholz, “We had to pursue opportunities ourselves.”
On
a practical level, this has led the band to physically call the
country’s most popular record shops and ask them to carry Mountains’
initial pressings. Lucky for them, the record sold itself, generating
interest as far away as the UK’s influential Rough Trade shop and the
NME, who wrote, "Why There Are Mountains
may be one of the best 'indie' (the album is self-released, so, y'know,
actually 'indie') albums of the year. And with the major label skyline
being obliterated like something out of Independence Day, it's time to
batten down the hatches."
Hype-raking reviews aside, there’s this important detail: Why There Are Mountains is
a real album, a ‘grower’ that dishes out simple pleasures with every
spin. Aside from obvious recurring elements (D’Agostino’s restless yelp
and sinuous riffs, Miller’s Wire-y rhythms paired with Berenholz’s
melodic bass style, and the orchestral layers of keyboard), there are
shades of shoegaze (the patient, feedback-bathed passages of “Share”),
Motown (the buoyant bass lines of “Cold Spring”), and
Technicolor-tinged pop (the breezy horns and schizo synths of
“Indiana”). Not to mention pure chaos, as explored in the gate-crashing
“…And the Hazy Sea,” the tension-ratcheting “Like Blood Does,” and the
final, throat-tearing moments of “Wind Phoenix (Proper Name).”
As
for what’s next, well, one new song already has a “lazy guitar line”
that’s indebted to indie pop, floating over a disco inspired rhythm
section.
“You guys are laughing,” says Berenholz (and they
are), “but that’s what I’m talking about here—people bringing different
influences to the table, until my chocolate’s clearly in your peanut
butter.”
“We aren’t shying away from the dance beats,” adds D’Agostino.
“Sometimes,” says Miller, smiling, “they are appropriate.”
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Tour Dates
6/13 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY 7/2 - Vollrath Tavern - Indianapolis, TN 7/4 - 80/35 Festival @ Western Gateway Park - Des Moines, IA 7/18 - Pitchfork Music Festival @ Union Park - Chicago, IL 9/12 - Monolith Festival @ Red Rocks Ampitheatre - Morrison, CO
Band Members
Joseph Ferocious - vocals/guitars Neil Berenholz - Bass guitar/ vocals Matthew Miller - Drum set & percussion |
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