54 Seconds
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54 Seconds

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This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Ozbeat"

From the first song, Watson 349, 54 seconds puts you on immediate notice that the journey though this album is going to be a different kind of ride. The vocals are as gorgeous as anything OZ Beat has heard in a while, affecting in ways that are as powerful as Julee Cruise’s work with Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks). At the same time, this band has something reminiscent of the best of Clinic. No, they don’t sound like Clinic. It is all about the way they present the music, precisely calculated but in no way cold. The last track, Coma, is a fucking stunner from the first notes until its ending 7 minutes 42 seconds later, which is why we picked it as a Media download song. 54 seconds demands complete attention, and deserves it.

Don’t take this album to your next dance party, don’t ask your local disco to play it, don’t take it down to the local Anarchist center for the mosh pit benefit you are doing to raise rent. Keep it at home and know it is there when the evening is winding down and you need something of great substance, beauty and power. OZ Beat is very happy to feature 54 seconds.
- Dem Hopkins


"Rank 'n' Revue Magazine - Live Show Review"

After a couple of songs to warm over the crowd, Spencer Gibb, front man of 54 Seconds leans to the mic with a half-grin and sinner-saint gaze. "...drink up - drink a lot." He nods to the bar and his eyelids half-flutter. Some guy in the back chugs away. "Yep - just like that." No need to tell me twice, and like that, I am empty. By the time the band plays a couple of measures of the next one my glass is full again. $2 wells... and she calls me "sweetheart."

It's Wednesday night at the Caucus. The sounds that slip to and through this begging head escort pieces of me (a few at a time) to far away places found somewhere through a portal in this most comfy couch. Perfect place and time to soothe my mid-week aches (of both ass and mind).

Many moments of this show rendered me speechless, motionless, even invoked thoughtlessness. The melodies concocted by guitarist Gibb and keyboardist Stewart Cochran explore an emotionally charged and experimentally rich bandwidth of the musical spectrum. An admitted sensitive type, I was moved to the verge of tears, while at the same moment rendered numb, and floating the flipside in a comforting neutral peace. Songs such as "complicated" and "blown away" evoke a sadness in the collective consciousness. The latter features a horn courtesy the vanishing and reappearing Mel Rodriguez. My breathing patterns were altered as if I were receiving a good... well... hmmm. So, I had another drink.
The grin was again hard to hide during "elephants," which was highlighted by a subtly complex, yet perfectly executed drum performance by Brad Gilley. As the show progressed, I would at moments find myself longing for more bass in the mix. Then like a psychic bad ass, Glenn McGregor would come with a line perfect for riding deeper into the couch. A new song (written only days ago) came with the groove and energy to fill my chest with the desire to dance with everyone present (I danced with the couch instead... and had another drink).

I feel most compelled though to mention the seductively haunting voice of Spencer Gibb. His lyrics drudge up and somehow resolve memories of bittersweet pleasures and gut-wrenching pains... and another drink... and another... another.

54 Seconds treats the mind's eye to muted hues with vibrant breaks that soar into almost heavy, edgy aural swells that defy space and time. All the while the sound never completely departs from the soft beauty that has held my hand thus far in the journey. I enjoyed nearly every blissful second (not gonna pun, so fuck off!).

54 Seconds will be playing the Caucus every Wednesday. As long as the couch is still there, so be there will I. One more bourbon and coke for sweetheart, sweetheart? - Jim Walters IV


"Indie-Music.com"

Fifty-four seconds until what? The end of the world? The end of that meaningless commercial droning on your TV screen? 54 seconds until you’ve heard the best album of the year, if you’re smart. Little will ever impress and surprise like 54 Seconds’ sweet depression on their latest album Coma. This melancholy underground pop band with an unsurprisingly devoted cult following takes a well deserved giant step away from anything else on the scene today and strongly defends its two-foot bubble with pleasingly bipolar lyrics and swaying, aquatic music.

As individual as they are, surely you want an audible sketch, and it is, as best I can describe, the cousin of Placebo and Radiohead. Lulling guitar and vocals lend Spencer Gibb a more than ample resumé while Stewart Cochran, keys; JJ Johnson, percussion; and Glenn McGregor, bass/piano certainly would not deny responsibility for the band’s agonizingly melodic, nearly orgasmic composition. Eerily gorgeous, translucently floating, sorrowfully joyous. What else can I say?

If you haven’t already bought the album, I must not be doing them justice. But if it’s due to personal indecision, here are some recommended tracks, which can be heard on their excellent website, to motivate. Nothing can summarize the dark self-doubt inherent to humanity like “Better.” Never have I experienced such simultaneously heartrending and hate-inspiring soulful forthcomings. “Meaningless Conversation” stands not quite as darkly, but equally thought-provoking and real. Finally, the depth of the journey found in the title track “Coma” is simply insane and incomparable to any other song ever. You’ll feel after it the same as you did after your first listening of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.
- Genevieve Will


Discography

EP, 1998
Promography, 2000
Coma, 2001
Better? (video single), 2004 - MTV Europe rotation
Memoirs of the Superficially Happy (ep), 2005
Ben's Letter (single), 2005 - U.S. radio (various stations) and Virgin Digital
Postcards from California, 2007 (summer release)

Photos

Bio

54 Seconds was born in Southern England but burst out as a musical force in Austin, TX in the late 1990’s. Best described as psychedelic-pop headphone music with swirling guitar textures and freakish keyboards, the band renders excellent melodies, heartening lyrics and eerie, otherworldly atmospheres that wrench the gut of the listener. Finely crafted songs take darker topics and universal themes and deepen them with emotional arrangements that speak directly to each fan. “I can't write generically,” maintains vocalist Spencer Gibb. “For me, it's all about personal experience, even if it's not my own. Songwriting allows me to channel that emotion and establish a connection with my audience.”

Gibb and his band mates, Rachel Loy (bass), Stewart Cochran (keys) and Jeff Botta (drums) bring widely disparate influences to the table to create their original sound. Everything from jazz and funk to pop and vintage prog rock impact the players and their compositions. Each member has played with other bands in a myriad of musical styles. Son of the Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb, Spencer is both a music and film producer, having created several noteworthy videos for the band. “Better?” (off critically-acclaimed album Coma) won the SXSW Film Festival Jury Award for Best Music Video and is currently in rotation on MTV Europe. A performer from a very young age, singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Rachel has appeared on NBC’s Today Show and had a Billboard-charting hit song in 2003. Stewart plays piano for ballet and modern dance performances. Largely improvised, he records these sessions for possible use in future 54 Seconds songs. Jeff is involved in countless side projects around Austin, moonlighting not only as a drummer but also as a vocalist and music teacher. This band is a dynamic force to be reckoned with.

Having had years of residencies at various notable Austin clubs as well as playing a few shows in NYC, 54 Seconds’ catalogue includes three full-length indie releases, an EP, three music videos and numerous live albums. Fans and music critics alike continued to embrace each new project, and with the rise of internet promotions in the past decade the band has been able to gather a diverse global audience. Their music can be heard on broadcast and web-based radio stations around the world, including KGSR in Austin.

With the completion of their fourth full-length album, Postcards from California, 54 Seconds is poised for the nation-wide and international stage. Publishing giant, BMG Music, has signed the band to a long-term deal. “We never talked about a vision for our music or did this for the sake of anything other than making it sound great,” says Spencer. “We’ve always played because we connected personally as well as musically. And looking back on everything we've created, it's obvious that we've evolved incredibly as both musicians and writers.”

For news, photos and more information on the band, please visit www.54seconds.com or www.myspace.com/54seconds.