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And a Few to Break:
Taking their name from a lyric by defunct Swedish anarchist punk outfit Refused, And a Few to Break filter the compact intensity of hardDCore through post-Chicago post-rock. The orchestral leanings of Godspeed and Explosions in the Sky echo throughout the local five-piece's raucous chamber punk. Willing to allow a narrative to unfold over 10-, 15-, or 20-minute stretches, And a Few to Break also rip through 3-minute songs as if it were their only chance to slay you. Flashes of metal come in outbursts of guitar precision as wiry bass lines and jazzy, swinging drums meet vocals that veer from a whisper to a scream. The frequently epic scope of the songs might seem daunting, but an undeniable melodic sense keeps things shimmering beautifully. - San Francisco Bay Guardian
"We first encountered And a Few to Break at Edinburgh Castle some months ago when the scrappy quintet knocked us on our asses with mathed-up hardcore, screeching intensity, and — just when we needed it — a rush of glorious guitarmonies. That sweaty, deafening night was like a time warp taking us back to the brilliant, politicized hardcore of the early '90s. In the months since, the band's been aflutter with activity: a session at Tiny Telephone and one furious gig after another. Tonight's engagement at the Castle puts them in the same place we found them, but this time we know to bring wildly high expectations." (NC) - San Francisco Flavorpill
Discography
LP:
Procession: RCR003: 2006
EP:
I can isolate, if not separate: RCR002: 2005
Three Recommendations from a Self-Proclaimed Psychiatrist: RCR001: 2001
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Though the current and final line up of And a Few to Break (AAFTB) has been playing together for just over a year, their first official practice on October so-and-so of 2004 marked the culmination of almost 12 years of planning and refining. The first seeds of the vision were planted back when Samuel Edmondson (guitar) and Mizzle (drums) first started playing their instruments in 8th grade. Ever since either of them touched their instruments, they have touched them together (first hint of semi-homoeroticism). After playing in their first band together in high school in D.C., they scattered across the eastern seaboard as they went off to college, but the musical bond stayed intact. Sam meets Mark.
In one of his first days on campus at Haverford College in PA, Sam could not help but notice Brady McCartney (vocals) as he leapt and screamed across the stage in front of the incoming freshman class. Ska had never been so punk rock. Before anyone knew it, Blocking Consensus (said Ska band) had become even more punk rock, because Sam, the metal head from D.C., joined the ranks. Brady meets Sam.
There was a classmate of Sam's that was similarly wowed by Brady's performance that day, Jamie Racanelli (guitar). He was not to meet Sam and Brady for quite some time, but they could not help but notice him during the first week of school. He was the kid who wore the same t-shirt all week, the t-shirt which read: "LET'S FORM A BAND. I'M JAMIE. CALL ME AT (610)795-1416"
They did not meet that day, but seeds, powerful seeds, were planted, foreshadowing when Sam and Brady meet Jamie.
As much as Brady and Sam enjoyed their ever so punk rock version of Ska, it could not satisfy the musical hunger within them for long. Realizing, in the summer of 2000 that they all lived in D.C., Mark, Brady, and Sam began to join forces. The result was the first incarnation of AAFTB. During that fateful summer they wrote 8 songs that they would, over the course of the next two years, on and off, record and perform in NYC, D.C., and Philly. Mark meets Brady meets the start of the rest of their lives.
During those two years, as AAFTB did their best to keep the band alive despite their geographic limitations, Sam and Jamie became friends and started playing guitar together. During their senior year at Haverford, they put together a handful of acoustic metal songs, which they occasionally had the pleasure of performing with a cellist. It wasn't much, but it was enough to seal their musical fates. Jamie meets Sam while Iron and Wine meets Slayer.
In the Spring of 2003, this association of musicians found itself in a peculiar situation. Brady, having graduated a year earlier, was exploring the wonders of the eastern European world, Mark was fighting out another year and a half as a hip-hop percussionist at NYU, and Sam and Jamie were being forced out of college and into the real world with few plans as to how to face it. The fate of AAFTB was uncertain to say the least. Then, somehow, someway, Sam and Jamie decided to move to San Francisco, a city in which none of our members had any ties, to which neither Sam nor Jamie had ever been to before, thinking (but not stating) that it would somehow give this collection of musicians the chance that it needed and deserved. Jamie and Sam meet San Francisco.
While struggling to find what it was that had brought them to San Francisco during their first six months there, Sam and Jamie grew tired of their acoustic noodlings and turned where all others that are lost in San Francisco turn: Craigslist. And this is where the truth revealed itself to them. This is when they learned the reason that they had come to San Francisco. Hungry for some musical inspiration himself, Paul Slack (bass) of Napa, CA replied to Sam and Jamie's posting on Craigslist to come and play some drums for them. When he arrived to meet the pair in San Francisco, there was a practice space mix up and so they in fact had no drums to play. "No sweat," says Paul. "I'm more of a bassist anyway. I've got my bass with me; let's just go play at your place." Jamie and Sam meet Paul, the only bass playing, drum punishing, heirloom farm owning, two-kid-and-a-wife-having, hair salon/art gallery running, bonsai tree grooming 29 year old in the world who just so happens to want to join up.
Over the course of the next year, Brady and Mark hear the rumors of what is to come in San Francisco and they trickle into the city. On October so and so 2004, Mark and Brady meet Paul and AAFTB is born again.
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