ARTiST : In Praise Of Folly
ALBUM : Means/Ends
LABEL : Lujo Records
GENRE : Indie
ENCODER : Lame 3.90 / APS
QUALiTY : VBRkbps / 44.1kHz / Joint-Stereo
RELEASE : Oct-17-2005
STREET : Aug-00-2005
SOURCE : CDDA
TYPE : Album
PLAYTIME : 43:21 min
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+ TRACK LiSTiNG +
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[#] [Track Name] [Time]
01. . 00:24
02. Happenstance 03:19
03. Beliefs Otherwise 03:53
04. Empiricism 03:12
05. Both Sides 03:50
06. Affluenza 04:27
07. Means/Ends 04:21
08. The Sublime 04:08
09. Misplaced 03:03
10. Don't Wander Off 02:23
11. Affluenza (reprise) 02:34
12. Prelude in C# Minor 02:47
13. Trepidation 05:00
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+ RELEASE iNFORMATiON +
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I Used To Care: A semi-brief history of In Praise of Folly,
2001-2005.
In Praise of Folly was born late in the year 2001, 70 miles
north of Seattle in Washington's Skagit Valley. Initially
functioning as a three-piece recording project, Benjamin
Verdoes (guitar, drums, vocals), Matthew Dammer (guitar), and
Peter Verdoes (guitar, bass) spent the month of November
creating a 5-song demo entitled "The Friends with Benefits
ep." By early '02 powerhouse drummer Ariah Mckee had joined
the band bringing a more frantic feel to In Praise of Folly's
developing atmospheric, space-rock sound. Following a few
months of live performances ipof checked into a Seattle studio
and with The Prom's Joel Brown at the boards, layed down four
songs later titled "The Seemingly Perfect ep."
By the time this ep was released in late November of 2002
Dammer and the brothers Verdoes had migrated to Seattle and 18
year old Jay Steinmaas had replaced Mckee on drums.
Self-released, ôSeemingly Perfectö was greeted with highly
favorable reviews and radio play on several stations,
including Seattle's KEXP and KNDD.
Early 2003 saw ipof playing throughout the northwest to
promote the ep, before heading back into the studio with Joel
Brown to start a full length album. Over eight sunny days in
Ballard 11 songs were completed at the "Hall of Justice." What
resulted from these sessions was to be eventually known as
"The Present Age," a 58 minute collection of dream-like,
swirling rock songs with subtly creative arrangements, unusual
tunings, and filled out with bursts of string and horn
sections. Lacking money or a label to release it, the album
was then shelved indefinitely while the band continued to
perform live and shop the record. At some point during that
summer of '03 Jay Steinmaas disappeared from In Praise of
Folly under mysterious circumstances. A popular rumor has it
that he departed on a two-week Midwestern vacation and never
returned. What is known for certain is that the remaining
three carried on and spent the summer in frustration again
auditioning drummers.
By September two more drummers had been hired, only to be
fired shortly after. Now faced with the nauseating task of
teaching one more drummer their songs, ipof made a bold
decision: Benjamin would move from his usual place on stage
playing guitar and play the drums himself.
From this point on the drum kit was raised and Benjamin sang
while pounding the drums from a standing position. It quickly
became clear to the three of them that they had made the right
choice and In Praise of Folly's performances began to take on
a new life for both the band and the audiences.
For a fuller sound local art-rock guitarist Zach Malm was
brought on board in November and in the final days of that
year Peter, Benjamin, and Matthew reached an agreement with
Lujo Records to put out the long awaited "Present Age" album.
Released on April 20th, "The Present Age" was warmly received
by critics but failed to make much of a commercial impact.
Entering a Bellingham, WA studio, In Praise of Folly began
production on their follow-up album just three months later,
with Chuck Kelley signed on as producer.
After putting in 10 months of service with ipof Zach Malm left
and was replaced by Wisconsin transplant Patrick Dalhstrom in
August of '04. Dahlstrom who joined to play bass had a long
standing relationship with the band and had previously
collaborated with them on album artwork and co-funding both of
the earlier releases. Over the past three years In Praise of
Folly have performed with a number of bands, including The
Decemberists, The Thermals, Carissa's Weird, The Prom, Rocky
Votolato, Aveo, Denison Witmer, The Pale, Idiot Pilot, Kuma,
and labelmates Verona, and Suffering & the Hideous Thieves.
Currently ipof just finished up the new record "Means/Ends"
which is set for a August '05 release. The new batches of
songs, though still maintaining ipofÆs trademark hauntingly
beautiful vocals and symphonic qualities, have drifted in a
surprising new direction. The material is more aggressive,
direct, and confident, filled with flourishes of math-rock and
classical inspirations.