AM Syndicate
I'm finally coming out from saturating myself in the blissful best of 2007 enough to face the stack of new music and bands that has been steadily piling up since mid-December. I generally put everything in a folder on my MP3 player and then see what jumps out.
The songs that stood out right away were by the Austin three-piece AM Syndicate, who released their second full-length album Liberation, the follow-up to 2006's Empire, just before Christmas. The group is made up of guitarist/vocalist Omar Chavez, drummer Vincent Durcan, "percussionista and keyboardist/sequencer" Golfball.
I immediately heard the Neutral Milk Hotel influence in "The Neighbor And His Wife" and "Doubt In Progress" in the base layer of rhythm guitar and the underlayer of fuzzy noise, but there also is a beauty in the melodies that is more related to shoegazers like Chapterhouse. "My Friend the Sleepwalker" even has the layered drone of the Stone Roses. The simple acoustic beginning of "Doubt In Progress" has a vocal that reminds delightfully of both Neil Young and Colin Meloy. "To the Peasants of the Emperor" has the mesmerizing smoothness of XTC.
From Liberation (2007):
AM Syndicate: The Neighbor And His Wife
AM Syndicate: To the Peasants of the Emperor
MySpace | Website | Label: Novastar Records | Buy
Buy Empire at Sick Room Records
Current tour schedule:
Jan 18 2008 - The Vortex - Beaumont, TX
Jan 31 2008 - Live From Studio A - San Antonio, TX
Feb 1 2008 - The Mohawk - AUSTIN, TX
Feb 2 2008 - The LimeLight - San Antonio, TX
Feb 3 2008 - Supper Happy Fun Land - Houston, TX
Feb 7 2008 - Zeppelins - El Paso, TX
Feb 8 2008 - The Ruby Room - Phoenix, AZ
Feb 21 2008 - The Conservatory - Oklahoma City, OK
Feb 22 2008 - TBA - Little Rock, AR
Feb 23 2008 - The Jack Rabbit Lounge - Shreveport, LA
Mar 15 2008 - Mia’s Pub - Shreveport, LA
Mar 21 2008 - The Celtic - Pascagoula, MS
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