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http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?p=16563471post16563471
Bank - Boise, ID
AP.net Profile | Myspace
Why We Like: This band doesn't exactly live in a scene hotspot, but they've really strived to get out and put all they can forth in order to get people to hear their music. Their rural background has given them sort of a grassroot feel that you'll love.
RIYL: An Angle, Bright Eyes, Dear And The Headlights, The Early November - AbsolutePunk.net
Take That to the Bank
Local band Bank has spent the last couple of months touring their melodic indie pop. With new drummer Adam Frost in tow, Bank makes a stop at the Venue to showcase some of the new music they've been working on. Sans drummer, Bank played at Opa a few weekends ago. If the beautiful version of "Rebecca, Let's Go" they performed is any indication of the band's maturing sound, the upcoming show—with Seattle band Man Without Wax and locals Arctic Turtles and Sloth Falcon—should be a good one.
April 26, doors at 7 p.m., $10. The Venue, 521 Broad St., boisevenue.com.
—Amy Atkins
http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A313110 - Boise Weekly
Bank, Oct. 26, The Venue
BY AMY ATKINS
On Thursday, Boise-based band Bank—drummer Brent Berg, brothers Dan on guitar and Andrew Keck on bass sharing vocal duties and lead guitarist Steven Pecka—kicks off a new tour on their way to Eudora, Kansas where they'll work with producer Ed Rose to finish their new release, Beginnings. When asked how they feel about travel and touring, Berg said, "We feel more comfortable out on the road." Dan added, "It's an adventure. [Driving between shows] is fun. We have a TV [in the van] and we have Guitar Hero." Of course they do.
The chemistry among the band members that allows for long strife-free hours on the road is clearly evident in their music. Though the copy of Beginnings that they'll be giving away with each purchase (through Myspace.com/BankTheBand) of a ticket to Friday's show is in pre-production (and therefore not polished), it's a good example of the ability of this Northwest indie-rock band to weave and blend harmonies, melodies and beats above, beneath and all around Dan's honest, lovely lyrics.
In "Rebecca Let's Go," Dan nearly whispers over a melancholy piano line: "Awake my dear, you need to know / All the things you want are yours / Take my words and hold them tight / I will always stay by your side. On "Black VW," grungy guitars, poppy cymbals and a steady drum beat accompany " ... just you and me on a drive to the edge of Seattle / and I laugh and you smile as the white lines and semis pass us by."
"I'll spend time at home working on ideas," Dan said. "The band will take the simple lyrics and melodies I have and make an amazing song. It really becomes a song when it's touched by these guys."
Oct. 26, 7 p.m., In:Aviate, Bank, Building a Better You, Tuscan Red. Tickets are $10, but through Myspace.com/BanktTheBand, you'll receive a copy of Beginnings. The Venue, 521 Broad St., BoiseVenue.com. - Boise Weekly
Bank (opening for The Higher), July 1, The Venue
BY AMY ATKINS
The other day I was looking at some posted show fliers and could have sworn I was reading some kind of strange poetry instead of info on what bands were playing where. Gone are the days of simple one- or two-word band names, replaced by monikers that often include a subject and a predicate. It's fine if the music can support it, but occasionally an epic name hides mediocre music. However, sometimes the opposite is true, and a band proves the adage that less is more.
You can BANK on this band's future success.
Boise-based foursome Bank's name is simple, and so it seems, is what they do: create hooky, emotional songs with an overall appeal. Brent Berg, Steve Pecka and brothers Dan and Andrew Keck mix sweet vocal harmonies, interesting rhythms and a knack for storytelling to come up with songs that will bounce around in your head for days. They're also ready to take their music to a larger audience.
In February of this year, the Bank boys headed to the Midwest to work with producer Ed Rose on a demo they could start shopping around. They came back with three tight, beautiful tracks, tour plans and a newfound sense of purpose. On Sunday, you can hear the new songs and see why, if Bank had followed the current naming conventions, they might have called themselves A Band On The Verge of Making It Big. Instead, they kept it simple and let the music speak for itself.
The Higher with Bank, The Sea Floor Spreading and Saturday Morning Heroes, July 1, 7 p.m., $10. The Venue, 521 Broad St., www.boisevenue.com. - Boise Weekly
http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=870132
Bank - The Hope Inside Your Sleep
Reviewed by: Travis Parno (02/12/09)
Bank – The Hope Inside Your Sleep
Record Label: unsigned
Release Date: September 23, 2008
It’s hard to know what to do with Bank.
Bank is the next big thing. With tunes transitioning between rock, dance, alternative, and indie, The Hope Inside Your Sleep could easily throw down several singles and launch into the stratosphere of radio-friendly stardom. Album opener “Drop Drop” wastes no time establishing the band’s predisposition for pop via spacey riffs, thumping bass lines, and pep rally handclaps. This is TRL-god-rest-its-soul material, through and through. In a perfect, 360 deal sort of world, the title track would provide the ideal, piano-laced second single. Get out those lighters (cell phones) as we all wave our arms together inside the Honda Civic Tour pavilion. Hell, Bank have already made the Absolute 100. They’ve left their homes in Boise, Idaho – who knows where they’ll head from there?
Bank is a child that needs to be put in the corner. Although their instrumentation is swanky enough to bring to mind Nightmare of You, their lyrics reek of Plain White Ts. It’s a maddening combination that, in this case, speaks less to a lack of sincerity than to a lack of creative emphasis. Even the most obvious pop tracks whip around and offer some absolutely delicious melody arc or gang harmony that completely saves the music from imminent combustion. Lyrics aside, this is an exuberant album. But this isn’t Explosions in the Sky, this is Bank, and no amount of vocal excellence (which they are certainly blessed with) can gloss over sugary songs like “Get Together,” which trips through such poetic disasters as, “Hey now baby, hang out for a while/ I will take you to the place where you can smile” and “I haven’t held you for some time/ But your lips are always on my mind.”
Bank is addictive, in the most bewildering and beguiling manner. There’s no real reason that a song like “Friday Night,” a fairly straightforward ode to shows, parties, and carousing with friends, should be so damned enjoyable. There’s something captivating in the simplicity of the song’s chorus that cries “Maybe it’s wrong/ To feel so alive” over bursting riffs and pounding percussion. And then there’s “Goodbye NYC.” Millions of bands, trapped in that endless, sleepless cycle known as Touring, have written travelin’ tunes that namedrop the major stopping points along the road, and yet Bank’s entry doesn’t feel outmoded or world-weary. That’s probably because…
Bank is genuine. Songs about vehicles, with the notable exception of Piebald’s “King of Road,” are typically ticking time-bombs of terrible, but “Black VW” and its tight harmonies and infectious claps feels like a sunny trip through the sleepy Midwest. This doesn’t just sound like a song written by an unsigned band on the road, it is a song written by an unsigned band on the road. It might seem like an obvious statement, but in Bank’s friendly hands, the most basic concepts seem to take on new life. “Heartbreak” is similarly sculpted. It’s not a complicated story: heart break happens, but life goes on. The sheer candor of the track’s theme allows the songwriting to shine and become immediately approachable.
The Hope Inside Your Sleep glitters with potential at one moment, but then turns around to show its tarnished luster. So it’s hard to know what to do with Bank. Theirs is a road, however, that is wide open, and the smart money’s on the chance that their ability to craft enthusiastic, heartfelt hits will lead them to a much bigger stage than Boise, Idaho.
Track List1. Drop Drop
2. Get Together
3. Over Now
4. Black VW
5. The Hope Inside Your Sleep
6. Friday Night
7. Heartbreak
8. Steps
9. Goodbye NYC
10. I Want, I Need
11. Rebecca
Give it a try if you like…Plain White Ts; Nightmare of You; Piebald; Limbeck - AbsolutePunk.net - by Travis Parno
http://www.idahostatesman.com/music/story/515226.html
A glance at Bank's MySpace page reveals the band's typical fan: 15 to 20, female, possibly stylishly pierced, probably asking the group to return to Oregon/Washington/wherever as soon as possible. Although modest in numbers, it's an enthusiastic following rarely witnessed among Boise bands. It illustrates Bank's potential for growth as a touring indie-pop act. When not singing earnestly about relationships and feelings, frontman Dan Keck helps book bands at all-ages club The Venue. It seems reasonable that his immersion in youth culture gives Bank unique insight into creating music that connects with this young crowd.
And, potentially, plenty of other fans. What's compelling about Bank's full-length debut CD - produced by Ed Rose (The Get Up Kids, The Spill Canvas) - is that Keck's vocal sincerity overcomes much of the aversion one might harbor toward emo music. Or perky hand claps. Or dear-diary lyrics. "There was a crash that occurred between your heart and mine/The fault was determined we were legally blind," Keck sings on album opener "Drop Drop," an effervescent, dance-tinged rocker that needs to be used on an episode of "The Hills." Keck's younger, bass-playing brother Andrew often adds vocal harmonies on tracks, putting the finishing gloss on Bank's sensitive-guy guitar rock.
Evoking Nada Surf's nerdish "Popular" on the standout song "Steps," Bank chants "Step 1! ... Step 2! ... Step 3!" as Keck unconvincingly lists out his tested breakup formula. Finally, he just cries, "Put one foot in front of the other!" Bank is comfortable in this role of distraught soul. Melodramatic piano propels the soft title track as Keck confesses, "I just want to get back to my cold bed where you used to lie in more ways than one."
Yet Bank rocks over an underlying theme of hope. "Goodbye NYC," a chiming, horns-laced charmer about a cross-country move, makes youthful wanderlust seem enchanting and beautiful. With a big-sounding CD that's keenly in tune with its fan base, Bank probably can't help feeling optimistic despite all the broken hearts being left behind.
Michael Deeds - The Idaho Statesman
http://www.idahostatesman.com/music/story/507270.html
Go do it: Bank gets busy releasing album
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Friday and Saturday
Gigs: 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, Record Exchange, 1105 W. Idaho St., free; 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, The Venue, 523 Broad St., $5 advance, $10 door. Openers Paper Mache, Man Without Wax, Abandon Kansas. Album listening party/art unveiling: 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, Lush, 760 W. Main St.
- Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 09/19/08
Pop- and emo-laced rock band Bank is everywhere in celebration of a new album, "The Hope Inside Your Sleep." It's being released a little differently: Not on CD. Visual artist Ben Wilson (he's not a band member) has created a piece of work in conjunction with the album. If you buy the art at a Bank show, you get a code to download the album online. Go online to banktheband.com for more information in the near future, or just go check out one of the group's appearances and concerts before they head out on tour for five weeks. (They'll also be on 94.9 FM "The River" at 8 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 19.)
Michael Deeds - The Idaho Statesman
http://www.idahopress.com/sections/play/page.php?cat=469&articleid=14014&action=article
Bank CD release party at The Venue
Friday, September 19th, 2008
The members of Bank hope their stock is about to go up. The local band (members include brothers Dan and Andrew Keck, Steve Pecka and Adam Frost) release their second album, "The Hope Inside Your Sleep," Tuesday, Sept. 23, but this weekend is full of activities to celebrate its launch. The new CD, whose pop is reminiscent of Death Cab for Cutie, was produced by heavyweight producer Ed Rose (who has worked with such groups as The Spill Canvas, Appleseed Cast and The Get Up Kids). Others have taken note, as Bank was recently named one of the top 100 unsigned bands by absolutepunk.net.
n Listening party 7 p.m. Friday at Lush, 760 W. Main St., Boise; free
n Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St., Boise) in-store concert at 2 p.m. Saturday; free
n Album release party 7 p.m. Saturday at The Venue, 521 W. Broad St., Boise. Paper Mache, Man Without Wax and Abandon Kansas will also play. Tickets are $5 in advance through TicketWeb or $10 at the door. Free food for the first 200 people in the door.
- Idaho Press-Tribune
Bank
Alternative Press - Tim Karan on 12/17/09 @ 3:32 PM - altpress.com
HQ: Boise, ID
NOW PLAYING: The Hope Inside Your Sleep (myspace.com/banktheband)
THE STORY SO FAR: Formed during off-hours at Boise club the Venue, pop-inspired rock outfit Bank began playing together in 2004 with a penchant for positivity. "We bring a fun atmosphere to everything we do," says frontman Dan Keck. "Everyone is looking for a little escape these days." Bank have escaped themselves--from the basement-show circuit onto tours with Man Without Wax and Abandon Kansas. They also jumped on the bill for the Boise stop of the 2009 AP Fall Ball alongside the Academy Is... and Mayday Parade.
WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM: Tireless self-promoters, Bank have elevated themselves within their local scene thanks to an unending work ethic and the strength of their glossy full-length, The Hope Inside Your Sleep. But if you ask the band, they'll tell you that all of the hard work they've put in isn't work at all. "I know it's said often, but we really enjoy the whole process of being in a band," says Keck. "That comes through in our music."
YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: THE FORMAT / JIMMY EAT WORLD / WE THE KINGS - Alternative Press Magazine
Discography
The Alive EP - 2010
The Hope Inside Your Sleep - 2008
Beautiful EP - 2006
The Story of Mac Orange - 2005
Photos
Bio
Bank is alive. Their music is a nod to contemporaries like Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Eat World as seen in the driving guitars, tastefully explosive drums, layered harmonies, and pop sensibility. Frontman and songwriter, Dan Keck's lyrics bring out a clever and intimate portrayal of the most basic things in life. This band full of savvy musicians has kept their wheels rolling across the United States from Washington to Wisconsin, and California to Texas, leaving pearls of catchy music and high spirits in their wake. It all started with Dan and former guitarist Bryant Syme's desire for Macintosh computers and Orange amps. The only way to persuade these corporations to sponsor them was, of course, by naming their band after them both- thus creating “Mac Orange”. With Dan's brother, Andrew, on bass and Jon Basabe on drums, they became a local sensation and won a spot on the Ernie Ball Stage at Warped Tour '06. With this momentum came a record called “The Story of Mac Orange”... along with a name change. Not all the members bought into the simplistic, childish dreams of being sponsored because of a name, and so it was agreed upon... this force would be called “Bank”.
“The Story of Mac Orange” was followed by “The Beautiful E.P.”, and with it a longing to share their music with whoever would listen, playing in malls, parks, schools- wherever they could fit a couple acoustic guitars. They soon joined forces with friends Man Without Wax, formerly Blane, of Seattle, swapping shows in each others hometowns and building a fan base outside of Boise. Forming the same type of relationship with other unsigned bands, Bank toured through Oregon, California, Utah, and many other western states, creating a blueprint for future tours with Abandon Kansas and Paper Mache. The fruits of touring birthed a new record called “The Hope Inside Your Sleep”, a beautiful ode to life on the road. Produced by Ed Rose, this album was a representation of Bank as a mature band.
Shortly after “The Hope Inside Your Sleep”, Bank was deemed one of Absolutepunk.net's “Absolute 100”- a yearly list of the nation's 100 best unsigned bands as well as being selected for Alternative Press Magazine's AP&R section, a list of their favorite unsigned bands of the month. More tour ensued, including a trip to Austin, Texas for 2009's SXSW. Recently Bank was invited to play the 2009 Fall Ball AP Tour at the Knitting Factory with The Academy Is, Mayday Parade, The Secret Handshake and You Me At Six. During the last year there have been many things to celebrate, maybe the biggest being the brand new record. Based on the idea of a new project Dan conjured up while on hiatus with We Shot the Moon, this new album could really be seen as seven singles. It draws from diverse influences such as 60's jazz in “Try To Be Brave” and Pachelbel's “Cannon in D” in “Catch It”, but the record maintains Keck's strong understanding of pop music. The new album, “The Alive E.P.” is a great accomplishment for Bank as the band came very close to dissolving in March of '09 “We've had our ups and downs”, Keck says, “but with the new record comes new resolve. It's fun again.” The band has a steady heartbeat again with plans to support their new album and tour regionally. Bank is alive.
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