- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: The Subjects
Album: With The Ease, Grace, Precision And Cleverness Of Human Beings
Label: Pretty Activity Records
Playtime: 42:34 min
Genre: Progressive Rock
URL: http://www.thesubjects.net/
Rip date: 2007-02-07
Street date: 2007-02-20
Size: 62 MB
Type: Advance
Quality: VBR kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
Like many bands, The Subjects met in high school. And probably like many
prog-rock bands, they met in video production class. They shared dreams of
loud rooms, cracked amps, and raging, sweaty crowds. Who or what was to hold
them back from grasping out, from "living the dream?" Most importantly was
that, unlike many bands, two of the members were students and two were
teachers. And that the four hanging out in rock bars together was not exactly
approved after-school development.
They rehearsed secretly and managed to keep things under wraps until
graduation. The following summer they borrowed a minivan and hit the road,
playing bowling alleys and coffee shops. They returned home with solidified
energy and the beginnings of a unique sound. Their shows started getting
bigger and their first, self-produced, self-released EP received notable
recognition. The Subjects appeared in SPIN, Punk Planet, Music for Robots,
CMJ, and many other publications and blogs.
The time came to record a full-length album. Knowing that they needed the
freedom to work on their own schedule, the band retreated to the basement of
an old Maryland family home to make the record themselves. They loaded a van
with instruments, amps, cables, microphones, horns, tape machines, and headed
south. Working around the clock, with only brief pauses for pellet gun
shooting and prank phone calls, the band built a makeshift studio and began
recording. Vocal harmonies, horn arrangements, old microphones, fireworks,
found percussion instruments, sound separation, mortars, sleeping bags, late
night fast food and exhaustion all played a part. After two weeks they
emerged with their first full-length, with the ease grace precision and
cleverness of human beings.
The album exhibits just the type of mature songcraft and na∩ve exuberance
that a student-teacher pairing would suggest. "Hounds of War" showcases the
band's ability to combine strong melodies with shifting dynamics and
undertones of longing and emotional depth. "Best of Us" shows the band going
beyond guitar-bass-drum arrangements, with its dense combination of horns,
organs and layered percussion. "Icicles" is built off of a powerful riff and
finds the band in a more spontaneous mode, with call-and-response interplay
between the instruments. What emerges is a record that moves from
well-crafted, high-energy moments to quiet expressions of subtle eloquence.
Reckless and insightful, with the ease grace precision and cleverness of
human beings is a delicate combination of youth's wide-eyed optimism and the
experience of age.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Speaking Parts ( 3:44)
02. Caught Between ( 3:33)
03. The Hounds of War ( 3:59)
04. Bird Song ( 2:08)
05. I Could Never Tune ( 2:28)
06. Icicles ( 5:05)
07. Seems To Me ( 4:15)
08. Lonely You ( 3:02)
09. The Best of Us ( 3:07)
10. Saginaw ( 3:44)
11. Numbers ( 3:33)
12. Melody ( 3:56)
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