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BIOGRAPHY >>"Hold Tight The Ropes" - "Status"
With Elk City's second LP, "Hold Tight The Ropes", the NYC avant-folk trio prsents its own strange vision of what rock music should be. Late 60's psychedelia, early 70's folk and mid 80's first round indie rock meet head-on in the dramatic strains of "Once And For All" (track #2). And that's just one of eleven similarly idiosyncratic tracks. Guitarist Peter Langland-Hassan connects the dots between Neil Young and Johnny Marr and has a voice that blends naturally with bassist Renee Lobue's. Lobue sings with a strength and passion recalling Patti Smith and Grace Slick and plays a Fender Rhodes Piano-Bass (a la Ray Manzerick of The Doors) instead of a conventional stringed bass. The band's secret weapon, producer/drummer Ray Ketchem uses the studio as instrument to flavor the tracks with dark atmospheres and distinctive textures. "Hold Tight The Ropes" is Elk City's second release for Talitres records, following last year's critically lauded LP "Status". Since signing with Talitres in 2001, the band has toured Europe three times in support of "Status", including a Black Session on France Inter radio last may.
ELK CITY - "Hold Tight The Ropes" / Tal-005 - Out april 5 1. Indiana 3:22 - 2. Once And For All 4:26 - 3. Smile 4:15 - 4. Don't Fight What You've Become 4:59 - 5. Athens Botanical 1:07 - 6. Rosemary 6:17 - 7. Football 3:35 - 8. Kmart 5:15 - 9. Crimson 5:05 - 10. Summer Song 4:48 - 11. Back Into My Life 4:22 ELK CITY debut album "Status" is Talitres records' first reference (TAL-001). "Status" was released in US in June 2000 through Hidden Agenda / Parasol records.
Arising out of the implosion of the MELTING HOPEFULS, a critically acclaimed mid-90's pop band that garnered rare reviews in SPIN, Melody Maker, CMJ and NME (The single "Pulling An Allmighter On Myself" was single of the week in NME and Melody Maker in 1994), ELK CITY began in autumn 1997 as a back-to-basis, "Let's have fun", no rules, experimentation project. Having originally recruited guitarist/vocalist Peter Langland-Hassan to play in MELTING HOPEFULS, drummer/producer Ray Ketchem and vocalist Renee Lobue (the core of the HOPEFULS) soon saw better possibilities in their new partner. The chemistry within the new trio was apparent immediatly. Peter and Renee sang together with a natural, unconscious grace, and the songs were pouring out at a rate of several per week. The three of them spent the entirety of 1998 in their recording/rehearsal studio, the WOMB, jamming, writing, making noise, and recording every moment onto multi-track tape. Listening back to their favourite moments, the band later picked songs from these early sessions to fully flesh out and turn into tracks for "Status". As you listen to the varied tracks of "Status", you can hear the band toying with any number of genres. There's the GUIDED BY VOICES cruncher "Groundbreaking", while some other songs are somewhere between MAZZY STAR, YO LA TENGO, and even THROWING MUSES and LUNA. ELK CITY was touring in the US East Coast in the summer 2000. The band played at the late NYC CMJ festival. "Status" was released in US in June 2000 by Hidden Agenda / Parasol records. Out in France, march 13th, 2001 (distribution: Pop Lane).
ELK CITY " Status" (TAL-001) 1. dreams of steam 2:49 - 2. mysteries unknown 2:47 - 3. love's like a bomb 4:39 - 4. chocolate girl 2:53 - 5. freeze two over eight - 6. groundbreaking 3:34 - 7. solar girl 4:31 - 8 fall out of reach 8:04 - 9. california dreamin' - 10. tell the people 5:25 - 11. reprise 0:36 - 12. don't cha wait 3:53 - 13. Trapped 11:11 (european release only).
PETER LANGLAND-HASSAN - vocals, guitar, bass, melodica, accordian, synths. RENEE LOBUE - vocals, bass-station, synths. RAY KETCHEM - drums, filters, percussion, samples, synths. Recorded and mixed in the WOMB winter of 1998 and summer of 1999. Produced by RAY KETCHEM. Mastered for Compact Disc, January 2000. elkcity@mail.com - www.elkcity.net
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The
debut album from New York City avant-pop trio ELK CITY is
a collision of smoky folk and classic New Wave. 