Bachelors of Fine Art

My friend Michael and I, college seniors and of course a little tired of life, stood amid other young, hip listeners that looked like they appreciated Broken Bells and Crystal Castles and maybe PJ Harvey sometimes. The crowd chanted “Toddlers, Toddlers” because the Toddlers from North Carolina had just finished playing. We wondered whether Michael’s Sierra Nevada and my glass of vodka were worth our commute to downtown Manhattan on a Sunday night – neither of us were huge fans of the Lower East Side.

Then BFA came on, and it was hot in the room. I took off my jacket. We knew the guitarists and the singer were suffering under blue lights on the stage, but we bobbed our heads and swung our hips from side to side.

“This is really good,” Michael said. “Thanks for taking me here.”

You’re welcome, I told him – and yes; it was good. The guitar line was captivating. The vocals sent out the energy we needed to get through our night; the vocals paid our bills. I was grateful that the lead singer had unmistakable passion – he admitted his enthusiasm, even. Yet there was no scratching at my ears. BFA’s music had a velvety edge, and I wanted to dance.

Two songs into the act, the lead singer told us to leave if we had come to “get mellow,” to leave after the next song. I thought: slow song is coming, all right. An instrument made a short appearance; singer said the word “eighties” like he was stretching it out to dry. The next word was “night,” and then I knew that these guys had talent. They put together all five of their instruments, with the voice, into one moment, and I felt goose bumps everywhere scattering around Mercury Lounge like a pearl necklace broken on the UWS.

Forget my glass of vodka and the scorching blue lights of the Mercury Lounge. I hope these guys have their songs played atop a tower of ice. Given the right audience and the support they deserve, they would melt it all down with their drive to create. - Practice makes gods

Von BFA könnten sogar Großmeister, wie Julian Casablancas sich eine Scheibe abschneiden.

Die New Yorker Band zelebriert nämlich Power-Pop vom feinsten, der einen in vielem Momenten eben an die Indie-Rocker von The Strokes erinnert. Es ist also sehr naheliegend, dass BFA, was so viel heißt wie: “Bachelors Of Fine Art”, Stile wie Post-Punk oder sogar New-Wave in ihre Musik mit einfließen lassen.

Aufgewachsen, sind die fünf Jungs mit Bands, wie Pavement, The Strokes oder auch noch LCD Soundsystem. Mit ihrer spritzigen Mischung an klirrenden Indie-Gitarren und frohlockenden Synthie-Beats, könnten sie aber schon gleich in einer Liga mit den oben genannten Bands mitspielen. Die Lyrics wirken zwar oft ziemlich unüberlegt und doch macht gerade das den Charme der Texte aus. Man kann sie sich leicht merken und so entwickelt sich “Skytanic”, wie auch “Happy All The Time” schnell zu richtigen Ohrwürmern.

Für Fans von: The Strokes, Two Door Cinema Club, Oberhofer - The Postie

Von BFA könnten sogar Großmeister, wie Julian Casablancas sich eine Scheibe abschneiden.

Die New Yorker Band zelebriert nämlich Power-Pop vom feinsten, der einen in vielem Momenten eben an die Indie-Rocker von The Strokes erinnert. Es ist also sehr naheliegend, dass BFA, was so viel heißt wie: “Bachelors Of Fine Art”, Stile wie Post-Punk oder sogar New-Wave in ihre Musik mit einfließen lassen.

Aufgewachsen, sind die fünf Jungs mit Bands, wie Pavement, The Strokes oder auch noch LCD Soundsystem. Mit ihrer spritzigen Mischung an klirrenden Indie-Gitarren und frohlockenden Synthie-Beats, könnten sie aber schon gleich in einer Liga mit den oben genannten Bands mitspielen. Die Lyrics wirken zwar oft ziemlich unüberlegt und doch macht gerade das den Charme der Texte aus. Man kann sie sich leicht merken und so entwickelt sich “Skytanic”, wie auch “Happy All The Time” schnell zu richtigen Ohrwürmern.

Für Fans von: The Strokes, Two Door Cinema Club, Oberhofer - The Postie

We’re celebrating Independence Day with a feature that has been a long time coming. It’s New York-based power-pop four piece BFA with their tune “Skytanic” which you can check out below.

BFA was touring through Los Angeles while I coincidentally happened to be in town, and I was supposed to go catch them, but thanks to unplanned life events, I couldn’t make it. I’m pretty bummed that I didn’t get a chance to see them. Their tunes carry an infectious energy, and those sorts of sprightly, dynamic compositions are the ones that always translate so well live. I feel like I compare way too many bands to The Strokes, but I can’t help but hear that influence in BFA as well. I guess The Strokes are more influential than I thought. Other than that, BFA sort of gives off a vibe along the lines of Kaiser Chiefs, Maximo Park, The Killers… stuff like that. It’s pop rock brimming with charisma, complete with a knack for hooks.

I know BFA just recently finished up a fairly long tour (4 weeks!), so you probably won’t be able to catch them in the near future unless you live in the NYC area. And if you do happen to be a resident of the NYC area, catch them at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn with Stone Cold Fox and The Colorines. That’ll be on Friday, July 18th. You can also keep up with BFA on Facebook — I have a feeling there’ll be new stuff coming from them soon. As always, make sure to follow on Twitter @BFAtheband.



"Skytanic" immediately gets going with quick, sixteenth hats and a high, tense bass line. Soaring synths and shimmering guitar riffs are introduced soon after. The first verse mostly serves as a build, and the tune really hits its stride as the first hook hits. In those hooks, the bass progression is what really gets me — I love how it walks during the "chews what it don’t spit out" line. The second verse follows along the lines of the first, but it feels a bit fuller, thanks to a more emotive vocal performance and more harmonies. Those harmonies, man — that’s the key to this tune. I think vocal harmonies are a generally under-appreciated aspect of songs. Layering voices can create some totally unexpected results, filling out parts of the melody that weren’t originally the highlights, and the vocal harmonies in "Skytanic" help it become the catchy tune that it is.

You can find “Skytanic” as well as the rest of this month’s featured tracks on the free download of the GB! July 2014 Mixtape, the latest in our monthly mixtape series. Come back and get it on July 31! -