Music
Press
"For the poppier side of Seattle alt-Americana — or whatever you wanna call it — check out the always-sharp, always-upbeat 17th Chapter at the High Dive."
- Seattle Times
The 17th Chapter is an interesting band in that it manages to meld two fairly standard musical aesthetics to create something of its own sound. The Seattle band ’s rhythm section of Zak Melang on bass and Mike Stone on drums has a talent for constructing churning dance-rock beats while vocalist/guitarist Matt Garrity and multi-instrumentalists Kimo Muraki and Ryan Burns push a more languid, almost-folksy aesthetic that is as breezy as the band’s rock side is blistering. All the musicians blend together fine, but the changes of direction from song-to-song on the band’s upcoming release, Around the Bend and Then Some, are sometimes whiplash-inducing. “Don’t Try/ New Friends” is notable as it manages to include both styles without sacrificing coherence or comfort. Lead by Garrity, the band pushes into a furrious pace, complete with a bit of a guitar riff here that calls to mind United State of Electronica’s “Emerald City.” Then everything drops out and Garrity returns with a spare, plucked guitar and his muffled moan. The song is a journey, the band at its finest.
- Seattle Sound Magazine
SeattleSoundMag.com readers weigh in on their favorite SONG OF THE DAY post from our website:
"Don't Try/ New Friends" by 17th Chapter, from Around the Bend and Then Some
Igor Abuladze says: I like how the band grooves together. My favorite moment is the first chorus/bridge, around 00:39, when the strumming acoustic guitars/mandolins begin playing. Very musical, very tasty. Good singing, good playing, and good sound quality.
Cory K says: Fantastic song! Great pacing and emotion, and I love the riff at the end repeating and fading making me wish it would never end.
Heather R. says: Very catchy! I enjoyed it from the first go-round and look forward to getting the CD. I hope you get some air-play on KEXP...I'll have to request you. - Seattle Sound Magazine, May 2008
Here are two genres not often found mingling: dance rock and alt-country. Yet 17th Chapter doesn't really wind up sounding like either one when they combine them. The drums are snappy and reminiscent of post-punk, yet singer Matt Garrity does have a folksy tinge to his vocals, especially in the choruses. The guitar parts are languid and moody like mid-'90s alt-rock, which blend seamlessly with the drums. It may be a cliché to say, but 17th Chapter creates a sound all their own. Über-bouncy R.E.M.esque roots-pop, perhaps? BJB - Seattle Weekly, Brian Barr
"It has such unexpected details: shifts, silence, changes. I found myself smiling a lot the first time I played it. And listening with my head tilted, awaiting something — some friend in the music. It is all a welcome surprise."
- The Polishing Stone, Kylie Loynd
Seattle’s 17th Chapter are slated to support the Long Blondes at Neumos on Wed May, 28th. 17th Chapter is often billed as alt country, but they are indeed more like an ALT, alt country band, as in their sound ranges from pop to bluesy to some of the more jangly sounds you’d feel comfortable hearing pouring out of the tractor. Get a glimpse here on their myspace page. They’re worth the listen. - Seattle Subsonic
Discography
The 17th Chapter - Self Titled EP with four tracks (2006), Around the Bend and the Some (2008)
Photos
Bio
RECENT NEWS:
*Oct. 26th
Seattle Times calls 17th Chapter the can't miss show for Saturday night! -"For the poppier side of Seattle alt-Americana — or whatever you wanna call it — check out the always-sharp, always-upbeat 17th Chapter at the High Dive." - Seattle Times
*Oct. 6th, 2008
17th Chapter play their best set of the year at this years incredible ReverbFest. Seattle Weekly posted a wonderfully produced live video of "Mr. Marrakesh" to their website, PLEASE check it here: http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2008/10/sw_video_17th_chapter_at_rever.php
*Summer, 2008:
17th Chapter cracks the CMJ charts! We had 23 stations chart the record including cores WMSE, WONC, WTSR, CJSW, KCSU, KVCU and KXJZ! We peaked at #155 on the CMJ charts. Not bad for a debut self released record.
*June 12th:
17th Chapter's Ryan Burns plays live at Bonnaroo as "Harrybu McCage", a side project w/ Matt Cameron!
*April 26th, 2008:
17th Chapter release "Around the Bend and then Some"
*Oct. 6th, 2007:
17th Chapter play a live set on KEXP 90.3 w/ Common Market!
BIO:
The following bio was written by Jonathan Zwickel (Seattle Times, The Stranger) after a two hour interview w/ Matt:
Seattle-based roots rockers 17th Chapter come with one of those arresting back stories that always accompany the most arresting artists. Fronted by former vagabond-turned-happily married dad Matt Garrity, the band would never have come to be if it wasn't for a '70s spiritual guru run amok, an adolescent coming-of-age spent in a remote ashram, Corey Feldman and Patrick Swayze's older brother (!), and the magnetism that guides like minds towards common goals. The band's forthcoming debut Around the Bend and Then Some is the kind of record that only gets made after decades of living real life, American life. It's simultaneously autobiographical and universal; Garrity's songwriting is fraught with the juicy tension of early REM and Nada Surf and his quintet nimbly swings through pop-minded barnburners and downtrodden slow-burners. In the midst of Seattle's Americana revival, 17th Chapter distills the style's road-worn, red-eyed emotion into a sound honest, unforced, and immediate.
Soon after Garrity was born in Madison, WI his parents began chasing a spiritual satisfaction that always seemed just out of reach. They eventually found themselves in San Francisco, following the wildly cultish teachings of Franklin Jones. At his instruction, they sent 12-year-old Garrity to boarding school at a former summer camp in upstate New York, an ascetic, ashram-style school where pop culture and materialism were banned. Garrity found solidarity with his fellow students who shared a dilapidated cabin (named after the 17th chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita) all year round. The other thing they shared: a battery-powered boombox that picked up the sounds of classic rock, country, and pop radio from someplace seemingly a million miles away. It was their lifeline to the outside world.
By the time he was 19, Garrity was bouncing around the Western states in a used Ford Pinto occasionally going to College and working odd jobs. He ended up in Seattle working Special Effects on Edge of Honor, a low budget movie starring Feldman and Don Swayze. After Feldman borrowed and blew up his car Garrity moved into a VW bus and decided to stick around. Construction, bartending, film editing, college, and more bartending kept him in Seattle while he wrote many of the songs and ideas that appear on Around the Bend and Then Some.
More importantly, he developed close relationships with several ace Seattle musicians, including drummer Mike Stone (Peter Buck, Bill Frissell), multi-instrumentalist Kimo Muraki (Bre Loughlin, Shawn Smith), bassist Zak Melang , and hotshot jazz keysman Ryan Burns. Along with producers Tyler Coffey and Jeremy Lightfoot, these guys helped shape the sound of Around the Bend. The result is an album of songs that feel perfectly comfortable in their own skins. Live, Stone and Melang are replaced by Greg Garcia and Bob Lovelace; in concert, the band bristles with raucous, untethered energy. - Jonathan Zwickel
Some of the highlights of 2007 were playing a live set on Seattle's best radio station 90.3 KEXP, playing the Fremont Fair, taking the stage during High Dive's second anniversary party weekend, two great shows at the legendary Tractor, and finishing the awesome studio effort.
BORING BIO (written by matt garrity):
The debut album "around the bend and then some" highlights the band's diverse and richly layered sound. Recorded at Toy Box studios, mixed at Litho and mastered by RFI, the band has achieved a warm analog sound that lifts and serves the powerful song writing.
Kimo Muraki's (guitar, banjo, horns, mandolin, vocals) tasteful dexterity adds something unique to each track. Sometimes it's a gently plucked banjo, sometimes it's a tone drenched solo harkening Faces era Ron Wood or perhaps a stacked horn section
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