Wampus rolls out debut CD from Cafebar 401

NEW YORK (www.cdbaby.com/cd/cafebar401) - Brimming with darkly sweet pop hooks, Cafebar 401 blends Bowie-esque vocal presence with danceable grooves rooted in Euro-rock. Currently setting the Dutch pop scene ablaze, the band has appeared this year on Dutch national television and radio. Their relentlessly contemporary sound calls to mind Coldplay, Masters of Reality, Muse, Beck, Soulwax, Radiohead, and Queens of the Stone Age, but they bring something of their own to the party.
Don't miss their new CD, being released today.

After signing with Wampus last year, Cafebar 401 rated an in-depth profile in the influential Dutch daily, De Telegraaf, and was featured prominently on Dutch television with SBS6. They are becoming fixtures at pop festivals up and down The Netherlands, including Dauwpopfestival, Struikpaaspop, IO-festival, and Wollipop.

Cafebar 401 leader Tije Oortwijn grew up listening to the Black Crowes, the Rolling Stones, and Masters of Reality. He first piloted grunge-driven bands during the mid-'90s. Gradually he absorbed his influences and concocted the shadowy pop confections of Cafebar 401. Combining the roar of alternative rock with the drum-and-bass of N.E.R.D., Timbaland, Daft Punk, Cassius, and Outkast, Cafebar 401 evokes a hipper Foo Fighters, a fun and funkier Bush. The irrepressible "Something Worth Dying For," one of the band's live staples, boasts an uptempo drum-and-bass beat with a Fu Manchu-like guitar riff and a Masters of Reality-style chorus.

Cafebar 401 departs enough from their influences, however, to cast a distinctive shadow. The first single, "I Need to Know," is a blast of tuneful emo, a modern-rock power ballad cast as yearning band-and-strings lament. Bangers such as "Full-pro Disco!" and "2 am" augment frenetic dance tracks ("Something Worth Dying For") and contemplative pop ("Troubles," "Many Left Here Long Before").

Oortwijn is a songwriter first, a craftsman of guitar and studio. He infuses his songs with a mix of celebration and sadness. "If the song isn't powerful," he says, "we throw it away." With the release of their debut, Cafebar 401 is reaching beyond The Netherlands to greater Europe and the United States. Armed with a disc that rocks hard and sticks like candy, Cafebar 401 could stick with you.