Underwater Tea Party

Artist Information

Biography

Underwater Tea Party is the perfect mix of the past, present and future of pop music. The Madrid, Spain five piece band formed in 2004 and their ideal chemistry resulted in a swift recording of a six song demo.

In 2005, Project Demo 2005, an annual event hosted in part by Spanish National Radio (RNE-3) invited UTP to enter the festival. The intensity and freshness of their songs and live show was a huge success with the audience. As well, influential radio DJ Julio Ruiz invited the band to be on his RNE-3 radio show.

The year 2005 rocketed Underwater Tea Party to the high profile �festival circuit� where they were voted one of the 10 best new bands in a contest at the Contempopranea Festival. At the Navalpop Festival, the impressed the famous producer Fine Oyonarte and Oyonarte immediately bid to produce the band�s first full-fledged album. (If you lived in Spain, you�d know who he is!)

The momentum of their early success resulted in a year-end RNE-3 audience poll recognizing the band as one to watch for 2006. The recording session for Suburban Metronome began in 2006 at the well-known Sonoland Studios (studio or classic recordings by everyone from the Rolling Stones to legendary Flamenco legends �Shrimp of the Island�). Underwater Tea Party were signed by Madrid based Junk Records in 2006 and the debut album was recorded, mixed and mastered for Spanish release in late 2006.

Introduced to the album in early 2007, Zip Records was struck by the band�s unique style and sensibility. The album has references to Belle and Sebastian, Ivy, Yo La Tengo, Mazzy Star and Stereolab. The album is also cool, provocative and highly addictive. The impact is immediate and UTP represents what appears to be the new wave of independent music in Spain.

The Junk Records release has garnered high praise as well. Recently awarded �Best Spanish Band with Female Vocals� at the Spanish Pop Music Awards, Underwater Tea Party present 10 near-perfect songs with universal themes of love, loss and missed connections.

Several Underwater Tea Party�s songs have been recently included in the Original Soundtrack for the film "8 CITAS" (www.ochocitas.com).

Check www.myspace.com/spainatcmj for Underwater Tea Party�s visit to New York in October 2008.

The band also had two very successful shows at SXSW Festival in Austin, also being part of the Sounds from Spain mission.

The album was released in Spain this April and will be soon available in more countries.

Instrumentation

Mikel Alberdi (Guitars)
Marti Perarnau (Voice, Guitars and Analog Synths)
Teresa Berruguete (Voice)
Irene Bonilla (Bass, Keyboards)
Peter Velardo (Drums)

Discography

1st LP: SUBURBAN METRONOME - Junk Records (Spain) and Zip Records (USA)

2nd LP: WHAT CRISIS? THIS CRISIS - Green Ufos
(to be released Fall 2008)
Mixed by John McEntire at Soma Studios (Chicago)
Mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Studio

Audio

• Plastic Cans
  Listen  
• Kill my Lambs
  Listen  
• Grandma, I´ve just seen Elvis
  Listen  
• The Untold Story about Mary and Nick
  Listen  

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Alex Green [+ Show ]
  

  Madrid’s Underwater Tea Party have been one of the most exciting bands on the Spanish pop scene for ...Madrid’s Underwater Tea Party have been one of the most exciting bands on the Spanish pop scene for the last few years and on their debut Suburban Metronome they prove that the buzz has not been unfounded. Armed with an almost otherworldly sense of the modern pop song, the band plays a breezy brand of indie rock that touches on everything from The Zombies to Flamenco. “Cityscapes & U.F.O.’s” churns with a dark pop energy; “Long Island Ice Tea” sounds like a lost ‘60s classic and “Silent Moans” suggests Belle and Sebastian. The album’s piece de resistance, however, is “The Untold Story About Mary and Nick,” an alluring boy-girl duet that sounds like a dream pairing of Robyn Hitchcock and Isabel Campbell. Singer Clara Martinez has a smooth delivery that ripples and rolls in hushed and elegant ways. She can be forlorn (“Void”) or buoyant (“Ampelmann”) but either way she’s an incredibly engaging singer. Produced by the legendary Spanish knob turner Fine Oyonarte, who was blown away by the band’s live performance at the 2005 Navalpop Festival, Suburban Metronome is charming and mysteriously affecting.
  
  
  

• Chris Dahlberg [+ Show ]
  

  Underwater Tea Party’s debut album Suburban Metronome is a reminder of how to do European indie pop ...Underwater Tea Party’s debut album Suburban Metronome is a reminder of how to do European indie pop right. Originally released in Spain in late 2006, this now year old album is finally getting an American release thanks to Zip Records and mixes male and female vocals along with English and even French vocals. The result is a refreshing listen that has enough variety in its 10 tracks to keep listeners enthralled for quite some time.
  
  The instrumental styles constantly change throughout the course of Suburban Metronome, but all of the grooves and riffs are firmly rooted in the pop genre. Each song always has melody as a key focus, but there are a number of distinctive influences evident throughout the course of this album. Songs such as “The Last Goodbye” and “Void” have a Radiohead esque guitar style to them with melodic riffs that have a spacey quality. Other songs twist between indie pop tracks with some Spanish and French influences, giving the album a European flair that the genre hasn’t seen enough of.
  
  Throughout Suburban Metronome there are songs with both male and female vocals, but the female ones are clearly the main focus. They are extremely melodic, both in English and in French on the track “Tempete de l ‘Ete” (which means Storm of the Summer in English). Both vocalists match well with each other and balance out the sound of the other, giving Underwater Tea Party a sound all their own. And not only that, but the vocals on the aforementioned are so beautiful that they deserve a listen. Americans may be anti-French in this day and age but Underwater Tea Party’s French track is a reminder of how beautiful the language can be.
  
  It may have taken over a year for Underwater Tea Party’s debut album to be released in the US, but it has been worth the wait. Though the album may be a tad bit too short for some people’s liking, it is packed with variety and a European flair that helps the group stand out. Suburban Metronome is a pleasant surprise and an album any indie fan should check out.
  
  http://www.ziprecords.com
  

• Baby Sue [+ Show ]
  

  Nice, upbeat, hummable guitar pop from Madrid, Spain's Underwater Tea Party. True to the claim of th...Nice, upbeat, hummable guitar pop from Madrid, Spain's Underwater Tea Party. True to the claim of the accompanying press release, this band's music recalls artists like Belle and Sebastian, Ivy, Yo La Tengo, and Stereolab. Fans of any of these bands are likely to find a lot to love about Suburban Metronome. Spain has become a real hotbed of talent over the past few years...and Underwater Tea Party is certainly right up there with some of the country's best pop acts. The band's smooth, catchy, ultimately hummable pop music is easy on the mind and spirit...while slightly exotic and rather unique. And the female vocalists sound wonderful. This ten song album is a pure feelgood experience from start to finish. Cool cuts include "Cityscapes & UFOs," "Long Island Ice Tea," "The Untold Story," and "Holophonor." (Rating: 5+)

Setlist

We�ll be playing our second album, together with older songs like "The Last Goodbye", "Wildtracks Build Bricks" or "Long Island Ice Tea". We have done covers of David Bowie, Ray Lamontagne or Leonard Cohen.

Basic Requirements

Calendar