New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Band Official Website) - From the minute the drum punches you to attention- aided by some sprawling star swirl' effect- Karl von Kries lets out the low whisky-soaked growl of 'Saturday night, we're all going to hell,' Too Late for Roses seem to know exactly how (with an aptly-titled 'Take Me Out,') to snatch us somewhere beyond the spoon-fed pile of commercial, lead-you-nowhere tunes everyone else seems to be peddling these days.
Upon the release of their debut album, called, in fact Debut, the Central Coast California-based trio, led by self-taught, multi-instrumentalist/engineer, von Kries with drummer (and instructor) Wyatt Lund and a bassist that has been 'playing since the egg,' Jordan Martin, will have more than just a surprising audio experience to share with the listener. Enter accomplished/experimental New York filmmaker Patrick Smith and his MASKS project. Working closely with Smith (who insisted the music came first), von Kries created a sprawling, near-tribal composition that blends wonderfully with the content the viewer sees on screen. Come June 4th, when MASKS sees its official premiere, you'll get a first-hand look at this fantastic filmic/sonic blend. A trailer for the film can be viewed at right and the entire soundtrack can be heard on Debut (track 9). A world full of futuristic face-painted robots inhabitants roam around eating things set to music? Yes please.
The tunes on TLFR Debut ooze with the influence of the likes of The Deftones, early Radiohead or just maybe (if you listen hard) the angular pop of Simple Minds. They're refreshing, swirling Buckley-laced guitar gems that von Kries comments on by sharing a primary songwriting technique: He 'strives for the tight hook and the grand gesture [accompanied with a] strong honest lyric and the real performance.'
He cites Bowie, Jeff Buckley (a reference that's undeniable), Muse or the Stooges and reiterates how 'more often than not, behind all the dramatics, these [bands] aren't kidding.' Mastered at the hands of Joe Gastwirt (Talking Heads, The Ramones) the above references might be the easiest to hear, but this trio is certainly educated when it comes to knowing solid tunes, charting their own course and using innovative techniques. Just as the record hits its halfway point, the listener is taken through dizzying backward instrument swirls (2), New Order flavors (3), a pop-laden tale for the apocalypse (4) and echoes of Tinariwen's legendary African guitar sound (6).
Recorded at the band's beachside studio 'Hanging Fish Western Front', and released on their own Launchpad imprint, Debut is a collection of songs that, like surfing, resemble that lone, ready-to-crash wave off in the distance, that 'happen[s] as a flash of intuitive feeling - basically an empathic connection to a mood or vision' (von Kries) and that once you are apart of the movement, the only thing you're able to do it ride it out till the beach or until (Debut's closer) 'Winter Tide' ceases to flow.
Tracks:
1.) Take Me Out
2.) 1985
3.) Move On
4.) Snow & Dust
5.) So Gone
6.) Pacifier
7.) B.C.O.
8.) The Satisfaction
9.) 'Masks'
10.) Winter Tide
