PINBACK
JUDGEMENT DAY
Thu, January 31, 2013
Doors: 7:00 pm / Show: 8:30 pm
Crescent Ballroom
Phoenix, AZ
$16.00 - $19.00
Off Sale
This event is 21 and over
http://www.statesidepresents.com/event/178179/
Share This Event
PINBACK
Hailing from San Diego, Pinback is a band comprised of two principal players: Armistead Burwell Smith IV (Zach) and Rob Crow. Pinback started as a part-time endeavor back in 1998, when Zach's band Three Mile Pilot went on an extended hiatus and Rob found time away from his other musical interests (mainly Thingy and Heavy Vegetable). After recording their self-titled debut, released by Ace Fu in 1999, Pinback became a fully realized project.
The next few years saw an increase in Pinback activity. In 2000, Tree Records released the EP Some Voices, and Ace Fu released Pinback's second full-length, Blue Screen Life, in 2001. Between record releases, Pinback toured as a full band, hitting points across North America and Europe. Additionally, Pinback offered up many tour-only EPs, consisting of various combinations of live tracks, alternate takes, and unreleased songs. In 2003, Absolutely Kosher released the EP, Offcell.
In 2004, Pinback unveiled Summer in Abaddon, their debut record for Touch and Go. It was recorded by the duo in Zach's home studio over the course of 2003, and it truly captures Pinback's essence. Although it may seem like gentle pop music at first encounter, its brilliance is slowly revealed upon repeated listens. Songs are buoyant and lively at times, melancholy and dark at others, and always resonate with an underlying intensity. Between two musicians, Pinback lays out beautiful melodies that are deceptively complex, layering sounds and instruments upon one another and trading contrasting vocal parts with ease.
Rob continues to work on a myriad of solo projects, but Pinback perseveres, bigger and better than ever.
The next few years saw an increase in Pinback activity. In 2000, Tree Records released the EP Some Voices, and Ace Fu released Pinback's second full-length, Blue Screen Life, in 2001. Between record releases, Pinback toured as a full band, hitting points across North America and Europe. Additionally, Pinback offered up many tour-only EPs, consisting of various combinations of live tracks, alternate takes, and unreleased songs. In 2003, Absolutely Kosher released the EP, Offcell.
In 2004, Pinback unveiled Summer in Abaddon, their debut record for Touch and Go. It was recorded by the duo in Zach's home studio over the course of 2003, and it truly captures Pinback's essence. Although it may seem like gentle pop music at first encounter, its brilliance is slowly revealed upon repeated listens. Songs are buoyant and lively at times, melancholy and dark at others, and always resonate with an underlying intensity. Between two musicians, Pinback lays out beautiful melodies that are deceptively complex, layering sounds and instruments upon one another and trading contrasting vocal parts with ease.
Rob continues to work on a myriad of solo projects, but Pinback perseveres, bigger and better than ever.
JUDGEMENT DAY
What began as a two-piece street act on the corners of Berkeley and San Francisco with brothers Anton (violin) and Lewis Patzner (cello) quickly became an experimental powerhouse with the addition of hard-hitting drummer Jon Bush. They named themselves Judgement Day, styled with a medieval spelling to reflect the dark, epic nature of their "string metal" sound, which might best be described as "sci-fi soundtrack meets metal-mania." Over the course of their career, Judgement Day have toured with buzz bands like Mates of State, Black Kids, dredg and Torche, and been featured guests on the records of heavyweights from Slash to Taking Back Sunday.
After the release of their debut record Dark Opus in 2004, Judgement Day went on a four-year hiatus as the brothers encountered two great opportunities that led them on separate paths. Lewis was accepted to the prestigious Peabody Institute, a conservatory where he studied performance technique, perfection and advanced music theory. Anton was recruited to join indie-folk outfit Bright Eyes and learned about improvisation, collaboration, vintage effects pedals and the value of a good stage dive.
Upon their return to the Bay Area, Anton, Lewis and their metal-head drummer Jon were faced with a gargantuan task: to write a new Judgement Day record incorporating all of their fresh, contrasting musical philosophies. Peacocks/Pink Monsters is the result of their efforts; a self-produced record born as much from experimentation and emotion as it is from academics and technical prowess. Recorded at Nu-Tone Studios in Pittsburg, CA with Riki Feldmann and mixed in Iceland by Axel "Flex" Árnason, Peacocks/Pink Monsters is Judgement Day's second full-length album, releasing independently on April 13, 2010.
Each member of Judgement Day brings a distinct element to the band's sound – Lewis's love of instrumental technique and compositional complexity, Anton's passion for experimentation and production, and Jon's knack for mathematics, as well as his testosterone-driven, tough drumming style. The result is a well-oiled, avant-garde string metal machine. The album's opening track, "Cobra Strike," is an in-your-face ADHD metal avalanche that never lets up. Its relentless arpeggios and time changes showcase each musician's technical brilliance while maintaining the band's tight sound structure. "Klagenstuck" is another face-melting shredder, with non-stop machine gun drums and lightning-quick string riffs that sound like the devil's own.
One of Judgement Day's goals with this record was to take risks and push beyond the boundaries of their instruments. At the end of every day in the studio, the band hit 'record' and improvised to develop new ideas. "Improvisation," an uncut improvised track, begins as a windswept exploration of sound and mood that slowly builds until it lets loose at an explosive peak. The core of "The Constant" arose from another of these improvisation sessions. Anton drew from his experience as a film composer (his day job) to deepen the track with lush orchestral strings and a wash of hazy sound effects. The band also experimented heavily with synthesizer pedals, phasers, backwards delays and ring modulators on this record, venturing into exciting uncharted territory for violins and cellos. The final track on Peacocks/Pink Monsters, "Genosha," captures all of the key elements of the Judgement Day sound: driving rhythms, compelling melodies, taut improvisation and rich layers of sound and textures.
Not only does every song on Peacocks/Pink Monsters incorporate improvisation, but the album artwork does as well. Three very different artists – Emilee Seymour, Ryan Noble and Shawn Harris – collaborated and painted without rules for two hours on a canvas to create a work of art with no predetermined vision. The title of the record is the band's interpretation of that final painting. Peacocks/Pink Monsters, inside and out, is a celebration of artistic spontaneity, collaboration and many unique visions.
After the release of their debut record Dark Opus in 2004, Judgement Day went on a four-year hiatus as the brothers encountered two great opportunities that led them on separate paths. Lewis was accepted to the prestigious Peabody Institute, a conservatory where he studied performance technique, perfection and advanced music theory. Anton was recruited to join indie-folk outfit Bright Eyes and learned about improvisation, collaboration, vintage effects pedals and the value of a good stage dive.
Upon their return to the Bay Area, Anton, Lewis and their metal-head drummer Jon were faced with a gargantuan task: to write a new Judgement Day record incorporating all of their fresh, contrasting musical philosophies. Peacocks/Pink Monsters is the result of their efforts; a self-produced record born as much from experimentation and emotion as it is from academics and technical prowess. Recorded at Nu-Tone Studios in Pittsburg, CA with Riki Feldmann and mixed in Iceland by Axel "Flex" Árnason, Peacocks/Pink Monsters is Judgement Day's second full-length album, releasing independently on April 13, 2010.
Each member of Judgement Day brings a distinct element to the band's sound – Lewis's love of instrumental technique and compositional complexity, Anton's passion for experimentation and production, and Jon's knack for mathematics, as well as his testosterone-driven, tough drumming style. The result is a well-oiled, avant-garde string metal machine. The album's opening track, "Cobra Strike," is an in-your-face ADHD metal avalanche that never lets up. Its relentless arpeggios and time changes showcase each musician's technical brilliance while maintaining the band's tight sound structure. "Klagenstuck" is another face-melting shredder, with non-stop machine gun drums and lightning-quick string riffs that sound like the devil's own.
One of Judgement Day's goals with this record was to take risks and push beyond the boundaries of their instruments. At the end of every day in the studio, the band hit 'record' and improvised to develop new ideas. "Improvisation," an uncut improvised track, begins as a windswept exploration of sound and mood that slowly builds until it lets loose at an explosive peak. The core of "The Constant" arose from another of these improvisation sessions. Anton drew from his experience as a film composer (his day job) to deepen the track with lush orchestral strings and a wash of hazy sound effects. The band also experimented heavily with synthesizer pedals, phasers, backwards delays and ring modulators on this record, venturing into exciting uncharted territory for violins and cellos. The final track on Peacocks/Pink Monsters, "Genosha," captures all of the key elements of the Judgement Day sound: driving rhythms, compelling melodies, taut improvisation and rich layers of sound and textures.
Not only does every song on Peacocks/Pink Monsters incorporate improvisation, but the album artwork does as well. Three very different artists – Emilee Seymour, Ryan Noble and Shawn Harris – collaborated and painted without rules for two hours on a canvas to create a work of art with no predetermined vision. The title of the record is the band's interpretation of that final painting. Peacocks/Pink Monsters, inside and out, is a celebration of artistic spontaneity, collaboration and many unique visions.