Andy Tanner

Also up for special commendation is Andy Tanner, kicking up an expansive piano-led ballad which isn't afraid to nail you to the wall with bursts of heavy rock.-Strange Glue, on Emo Diaries 11(song) - Strange Glue

No one cares what order the songs are in, just pick one so people can finally hear it you Bastard! - kellie - Kellie

Presqu’un an après la sucrerie offerte en guise de cadeau de Noël par Deep ELM, Andy Tanner nous revient enfin avec un nouvel et premier album solo qui ne manquera pas de combler les auditeurs peinés par la fin des Laymen Terms.

Car il est on ne peut plus évident, après écoute de ce Suitcase Full Of Air, qu’Andy était bel et bien la tête pensante du combo. Une certitude établie tout au long de ces 11 pistes où se côtoient énergie, mélancolie, profondeur d’âme, avec néanmoins un soupçon de jovialité très enfantine.
C’est d’ailleurs peut-être ici que se marque réellement la différence entre feu-Laymen Terms, et les débuts solo de son leader ; un distinguo que l’on pourrait volontiers mettre en parallèle avec celui des deux derniers projets en date de Chris Simpson, à savoir The Gloria Record et Zookeeper. Ici, c’est donc un peu pareil ; Andy conserve les fondamentaux avec cette fougue qui n’a rien à envier aux Get Up Kids, Brandtson et autre Promise Ring des débuts, tout en y incorporant, de manière plus complexe encore et un peu à la manière de Mae, ce piano qui avait fait la renommée de "Blue Cars" (Drive To Nowhere : Verity’s Novel). Un piano loin d’être «mono-note» au passage et qui se joue de différents répertoires ; petit côté piano bar sur "Jack", et davantage cabaret sur le final "Goodnight Insomniac".
Et puis, bien évidemment, ce chant si particulier qui n’est pas sans rappeler celui de Jesse Lacey (Brand New), le jeu de batterie de Jojo qui se veut des plus imprévisibles, sans oublier la récurrence de ces cuivres qui place certains titres ("Abby" ; "Jack" ; "Goodnight Insomniac") dans la droite lignée des compositions de Zookeeper, gage de qualité s’il en est.

Andy signe donc ici un premier album homogène, avec son lot de titres catchy et/ou torturés, qui ne demande qu’à ravir les auditeurs des formations précitées, et, pourquoi pas, ceux de Dashboard Confessional, The New Amsterdams, The Early November, ou plus récemment Destine.


L'album est en vente via ce lien.
Djou
http://www.metalorgie.com/punk/news.php?grp=Andy+Tanner
- Metalorgie.com

Last Thursday I went to Larimer Lounge to see Andy Tanner, not to mention talk with him more about his latest solo CD he wrote called Suitcase Full of Air, which came out that day. I have to tell you, we had a blast hanging out and talking with friends and his drummer JoJo. I also got a lot of insight on how much production, time and effort he put into Suitcase Full of Air. The artwork is amazing alone, and the recording and mastering of the CD is crystal clear and cleaver of course because it was recorded locally at 8 houses down. Even his sister got involved and created little clay abstract images that were used on the front of the CD and in the inside of the foldout. Andy likes to think out side of the box when he writes music and when it comes down to the details of the CD, he does not name or number the tracks on the CD, rather, he used icons or symbols that co-relate with the song. Cleaver Andy……
I have been a big Laymen Terms (Andy Tanner first band) listener since I moved here eight years ago. Something about the songwriting, which no other band has in Colorado, keeps you wanting more. His solo CD is no different. If fact, its more mature, and you can tell he has not skipped a beat. His music has grown with him through the years, and even though I was bummed when Laymen Terms broke up, Andy Tanner has made it up to everyone with his unique two piece band. Yes that’s right, a two piece band, which sounds like a four piece when he is playing the baritone, keyboards, and harmonica all at once, oh not to mention JoJo a great drummer to back it up. It really surprising when you see it live, it over shot my expectations, and its something you have to see for yourself.
It’s really refreshing to see something different in the Colorado music scene.

Here are pictures of that extremely fun night and of course the new CD Suitcase Full of Air. Check out the artwork and the clay images! Wait, what am I talking about, checkout the music!!

http://www.xrocksthespot.com/home/?q=node/140 - rs1design

"Suitcase Full Of Air"
Andy Tanner made "Suitcase Full Of Air" for those of us who have braved our childhood's. The road taken from the sand box to the school dance and well beyond informs every song on this, his first, 12 song solo album. When Tanner sings “I told stories I wrote, while the alligators on my shirt listened hard” in the beautifully busted, piano driven “Abused” chances are good you’ll recall how truly lonely and powerless it feels to be a child; the power-pop catch of “Abby” with it’s sing-along taunt of “I think I’m better than you” will feel familiar to anyone bullied in their ‘tweens only to have the triumphant teen angst of the track “The Penis Song” salve the wounds. As the album unfolds you’ll find a songwriter putting those early depressions and defining moments into the uncertain context of being all grown up. Andy’s 20/20 hindsight make it all to easy to see the childish behavior in adulthood - From the absurdity of slavish trend hopping in the ballad/hipster-indictment “My 559's” to the disillusionment with the world at large, made explicit by riff and lyric, in “America”. It would be easy to use the past to excuse the present, but make no mistake, "Suitcase Full Of Air" never descends into nostalgia. It uses the past to inform the present. It uses Andy’s piano, guitar, and voice. It uses your ears. And, if you let it, it can help make sense of our quickly accruing yesterdays and the current state of our lives. - Brandon Laney - Brandon Laney