Claymore Disco
Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States | SELF
Music
Press
By sheer entertainment factor, I would have to say Claymore Disco is definitely one of my favorite local band. Claymore Disco took the stage amid glowing lights as they launched their set with a bang. I’ve watched this band grow a lot over the past few months that I have been familiar with their music and they just seem to get better and better with each performance. The set list catered to fan-favorite songs like Red Dress, If Only and Invisible Arrows, each one an energetic dancy song that got the crowd dancing and cheering along with. One of the great things about a Claymore Disco set is the little things they throw in to add an extra element of fun. Things like front man Garrett Myers’ brief serenade with his banjo-playing skills and a explosive cover of Cake’s The Distance. After Invisible Arrows, the crowd called for an encore, which the band obliged by playing How We Dance. For everyone in the crowd who came out for a fun Saturday night, this band gave them just what they wanted. I really look forward to seeing what 2013 holds for this band as they continue to conquer the Colorado music scene. - New Junk
By sheer entertainment factor, I would have to say Claymore Disco is definitely one of my favorite local band. Claymore Disco took the stage amid glowing lights as they launched their set with a bang. I’ve watched this band grow a lot over the past few months that I have been familiar with their music and they just seem to get better and better with each performance. The set list catered to fan-favorite songs like Red Dress, If Only and Invisible Arrows, each one an energetic dancy song that got the crowd dancing and cheering along with. One of the great things about a Claymore Disco set is the little things they throw in to add an extra element of fun. Things like front man Garrett Myers’ brief serenade with his banjo-playing skills and a explosive cover of Cake’s The Distance. After Invisible Arrows, the crowd called for an encore, which the band obliged by playing How We Dance. For everyone in the crowd who came out for a fun Saturday night, this band gave them just what they wanted. I really look forward to seeing what 2013 holds for this band as they continue to conquer the Colorado music scene. - New Junk
Claymore Disco has only been around for a year and a half, and yet they’ve found themselves packing out a popular local venue with hundreds of fans. With their first full-length release, Year of the Disco: Gold Edition, the band hopes to uphold the place they’ve made for themselves in the dance rock genre. They’ve been featured on local radio stations, won a contest as the best local band in Colorado Springs, and appeared in print articles, all in the span of a few months. The reason things are working for this band is because they approach the industry with a warm and personable perspective. They understand kids these days, and they pack enough fun per punch to truly satisfy today’s modern audience.
Year of the Disco: Gold Edition follows in the footsteps of Claymore Disco’s self-titled EP release in 2011. The album takes the best 4 songs from the EP and rehashes them here while adding 7 new tracks. The band’s sonic approach is similar to their EP, but they up the ante with an instrumental, a ballad, and some experimenting with drum tracks. “The Colour Change” boasts an arena filling gang-vocal hook with a sexy bass solo to boot. Bassist Ethan Mills has a good handle on his place on this album, whether he’s locked in with a slap riff or playing with a nice, fat tone. It’s good to hear instrumental proficiency throughout the album, most noticeably through Mills’ bass playing. Guitarist Bart Williams provides plenty of Two-Door Cinema Club – esque riffs, and synthesizer player Garret Myers proves he knows his way around a sugary lick or two.
We hear the first inklings of a pop anthem with “Tears Could Talk.” Myers voice swoons “I’m a few breaths short of nothing to say, if tears could talk I wish mine would say – ” and then the song launches into a chanted chorus. Perhaps the most interesting moment on the album is the transition from the instrumental “Adumbrations” into the pounding rock anthem “Shadows”. It provides the latter with a strong background as the instrumental is integrated towards the end of the song. “Invisible Arrows” has the most infectious vocal hook I’ve heard in awhile, and is the perfect album closer for a high-energy band with nothing to lose and everything to give.
Songs like “Red Dress”, also heard on the EP, seem to stand out as outliers on the full-length. The track lacks any kind of synthesizer, and winds up sounding dry compared to its counterparts. To the band’s credit, the vocals on the full length sound exceptionally better than their EP, and they become less of a distraction from the music. The engineering on the drum tracks is also quite fascinating, providing another layer and depth to the band’s sound. You could argue that its overdone at certain points, but its presence on the album marks another big difference from the EP.
Year of the Disco: Gold Edition is the next logical step for Claymore Disco. It has the fun, the rhythms, and the smarts to keep listeners on their toes. There’s more power and direction here now that the band has had time to jell as a unit. I look forward to what these guys do in the future. Anyone can tell you that there is success in store for this band. With an infectious spirit and an optimistic work ethic, expect to see Claymore Disco play a role in the synth-rock movement of the future. Year of the Disco: Gold Edition is a solid album you can recommend to anyone wanting to get a little jumpy or crunky in their own bedroom or at a show.
Claymore Disco is:
Ethan Mills - Bass and BGV's
Garret Myers - Lead vocals and synthesizers
Bart Williams - Guitar and BGV's - Absolute Punk
Style of music in 10 words or less: "Alternative pop-pock with European dance influence"
Three artists they admire: Two Door Cinema Club, Switchfoot, Muse
Band members: Garret Myers (synthesizer, lead vocals), Bart Williams (guitar, backing vocals), Ethan Mills (bass, backing vocals)
Year of origin: 2011
Recordings: Claymore Disco EP (2011), Year of the Disco (2012)
Listen to "Invisible Arrows" off Claymore Disco's debut album, and the first question that may come to mind is: Does this band really come out of Colorado Springs?
Atmospheric synths, angular guitar riffs, punchy melodic bass lines, thumping dance-floor rhythms, and infectious vocal hooks add up to a sound that has more in common with the '80s-inspired electronic pop of bands like Cut Copy and Holy Ghost than with anything currently coming out of the Springs.
So maybe it's no surprise that two of the trio's major influences — Muse and Two Door Cinema Club — hail from the British Isles.
Also significant is the fact that the other band they most admire, Switchfoot, regularly appears at Christian music festivals. Together for less than two years, Claymore Disco is already making headway in that direction, having recently returned from the Sonshine Festival in Willmar, Minn., where after winning a battle of the bands, it got to play the main stage, opening for Relient K.
"We are all Christians and have firm beliefs," explains frontman Garret Myers, "but do not label the band 'Christian'— same as In-N-Out Burger isn't a Christian burger joint. It's just a fast-food restaurant run by a Christian family."
So just as Claymore Disco's music stands apart from much of the local scene, its lyrics seem more universal than what gets played on conventional Christian radio stations.
"Our music has a positive and uplifting message that is relevant to all people," says Myers of the band, which already has an EP and full-length album under its belt. "We definitely consider ourselves to be family, as well as all our fans to whom we owe so much. It's been a very exciting yet humbling experience thus far, and we are excited to keep learning." - Colorado Springs Independent!
Happy dance-punk, like a considerably less sarcastic LCD Soundsystem. This band knows how to make their instruments do what electronics do, without resorting to the clichés of any groove styles: they just lay it down relentlessly, with driving energy and positive vibes. If you go to see them, you will dance. No question. - liveunsigned.com
Claymore Disco provides an almost trippy take on modern alt rock with their new record. The vocals, at times, sound loud, tending to overshadow the intricate guitar work, but the relevance of the lyrics to the music behind them is nearly perfect.
“Fire Lit Faces” reminds me, in a good way, of the Swayback, with its mellow tempo, hooked and sped up by crafty guitar work. Throughout the record Bart Williams’ guitar playing solidifies and exemplifies the sound that comes across–an easy listening, enjoyable blend of rock with just enough keys to set it apart.
- Colorado Music Buzz
Claymore Disco provides an almost trippy take on modern alt rock with their new record. The vocals, at times, sound loud, tending to overshadow the intricate guitar work, but the relevance of the lyrics to the music behind them is nearly perfect.
“Fire Lit Faces” reminds me, in a good way, of the Swayback, with its mellow tempo, hooked and sped up by crafty guitar work. Throughout the record Bart Williams’ guitar playing solidifies and exemplifies the sound that comes across–an easy listening, enjoyable blend of rock with just enough keys to set it apart.
- Colorado Music Buzz
Discography
Claymore Disco
Year of the Disco: Gold Edition
1. The Colour Change
2. Tears Could Talk
3. Red Dress
4. How We Dance
5. No Refunds
6. Adumbrations
7. Shadows
8. Wide-Eyed
9. Fire Lit Faces
10. If Only
11. Invisible Arrows
Claymore Disco Self Titled EP -
1. How We Dance
2. Fire Lit Faces
3. Wide-Eyed
4. Red Dress
5. Drifting
6. iBailamos!
Photos
Bio
From the city of Colorado Springs comes a band that has
not only a great work ethic, but proven results.
From traveling the Country and winning various
competitions, opening for Relient K at Sonshine festival
in Willmar, MN to being chosen as Colorado Springs
favorite band and awarded the "Colorado Springs Indy
Peoples Choice Award", and most recently and notably
being the first ever local band to headline their own show
and sell out a venue only bands such as Switchfoot,
All American Rejects and Mutemath sell out. Claymore
Disco is becoming a national band, and they are doing it
on their own.
Band Members
Links