Creepoid
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Creepoid

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | INDIE

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | INDIE
Band Alternative Acoustic

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"'Cause I'm a Creepoid..How four Philly indie thugs found their sound."


If all you know of Creepoid is the drifty, echoing folk tones on their Yellow Life Giver 7-inch, the descriptor might strike you as dead wrong.
You just need to spend more time with the band. Urban, for instance, reminisces about getting in rumbles after playing shows with his old group The G (which also featured Creepoid's husband-wife team Pat and Anna Troxell).
As we walk into the row home on the Manayunk hills housing the band's studio (and the Troxells), I'm greeted by a pit bull. Genni is an 8-year-old rescue who couldn't be more docile and friendly. But still, "People get freaked out by her," Urban says. "'Cause she's a pit, y'know?"
Next, study the band's own pedigree. Ten years ago, Urban and Pat Troxell, natives of Willow Grove, forewent college to hitchhike to Austin, work long nights at clubs like Emo's and play in hardcore and noise rock bands. They returned to Philadelphia and formed The G, a righteous combination of "Touch Me I'm Sick" fuzz-pedal riffs and Anna Troxell's fierce vocal delivery.
So how'd they arrive at the doorstep of lush, languid psychedelic rock?
"I'm turning 28," laughs Anna. "I'm not tryin' to thrash anymore."
Last winter, as The G was waning, Pat and another old friend, Sean Miller, began tracking home demos with a softer bent. Pat played drums, Sean played guitar and sang. Anna joined in on vocals and percussion. The group asked Pete what he thought about adding slide guitar, so he flipped an electric on his lap and grabbed a bottleneck.
The slide careens in a distant, reverb-y corner of the band's basement tapes. Combined with Anna's voice, tentative and haunting this time, it is probably what invites the dream pop and Mazzy Star comparisons — particularly on the sensual rise-and-fall of "Pink Tag Sale."
Pat shrugs it off. "Nobody in Mazzy Star has fucking Black Flag tattoos," he says. "Nobody in Mazzy Star records in their basement on 30-year-old equipment."
Miller explains that their studio constraints — everybody gathered between four concrete walls, playing live — had an influence on how the songs were performed while recording. "We had to hold back, so it didn't compromise the sound quality," Miller says. See them in concert, and you'll note much more crash and roughhouse rumble to Creepoid's delivery.
It's all relative. The songs on Yellow Life Giver — and the more recent digital single, Graveblanket — are clipped and dirty. Behind a soaring violin, you hear the hum of idling amps. As the arrangements swell, the audio fractures in fuzz. But each instrumental nuance remains distinct and evocative. "Rotten Tooth" recalls the narcotic neuroses of K Records-era Beck; "Stranger" suggests Sebadoh, or a more recent Philadelphia parallel. "We're recording pretty much the same way Kurt Vile is," Miller says while explaining the nuances of their Tascam mixer. "Except he's one guy doing everything." Whereas, with Creepoid, the members hash out each mix collectively.
This takes the existing tension of the performance — the players, strained, sweating, just barely holding their sounds back from a breaking point — and compounds it with the tension of personalities. Of which the band is an unusual mix; half college grads, half nomads; half blue-collar, half professional. Anna is an adjunct art history teacher at La Salle and Miller is a graphic designer; Pat works construction and Urban has a seasonal job on an organic farm near Mount Pocono. Even though they joke about this as we sit in their backyard, there is a palpable divide.
And yet the blend works. "We have this kind of unintentional professionalism," Urban says. He, Miller, and Pat have a variety of past musical undertakings, and learned from each. Even though Anna is only in her second band, Urban continues, her (relative) outsider's perspective has made some of the strongest aesthetic contributions to Creepoid, "these brilliant ideas."
"We know exactly what we have to do," he says. "Our only real obstacle is each other."
Pat ruminates on the band's deep roots; the guys have been friends since elementary school. They befriended Anna in high school. Pat's old hardcore band even played her graduation party. For whatever the differences in their life paths, their relationship is sound. When Creepoid gets in scuffles, it knows how to deal.
"It's the old-school saying, 'locals only,'" Pat says. "We've all known each other forever. It's when you bring people in from outside, that's when there are problems."
"That's why I definitely think we're a punk-rock band," he continues, giving surface listeners another reason to do a double take. "It's very intense for us."
(john.vettese@citypaper.net)
- Philadelphia City Paper by John Vettese


"California Dreamin’ with Creepoid at DDG May 23"

“Creepoid is another one of those buzz-worthy local bands crawling out from basements of homes/makeshift practice spaces/recording studios lately in Philly. On their debut EP Yellow Life Giver, they use a reel-to-reel tape machine circa ’56 to help document their evolution. Yes, they are another lo-fi act flooding the indie music landscape, but Creepoid’s raw, gritty production perfectly compliments these four eerily engaging tracks. They open the album with “Rotten Tooth” which is filled with the spirit of Kurt Cobain and that 90’s Grunge angst all heroined out. In “Pink Tag Sale”, you’ll experience a dreamy Left Coast vibe that feels like it was written around a campfire in the lonely desert night. It’s in that Mazzy Star vein that haunts our subconscious. You’ll also find Creepoid putting on their dreary Brit-pop/post punk masks in “See-Through” before closing with their experiment in minimalism “Magic Drum”. The four-song EP is a tease. You can’t help but wonder what these guys and gal have in store for us next.” – Q.D. Tran - The Deli Magazine


"My Morning Download 7/22/10 – Creepoid"

Meet Creepoid, an exciting new lo-fi indie-psych dream pop group with roots from deep down South in Austin TX and currently residing in Philly. Creepoid has a sad, dark hallucinogenic sound. Think Beck and Lou Reed drinking beer at the Modern Lovers practice space listening to Mazzy Star. The band have a new EP out called Yellow Life Giver and the two song Graveblanket and are currently working on a full length audio and video project. Y Rock on XPN’s John Vettese said it best in his Philadelphia City Paper review of a recent performance by the band: “The stage was well set for Creepoid, one of the most exciting bands to emerge from the Philly scene this year. An offshoot of the brash 90s rawk inspired group The G, Creepoid dwells in the heady acousto-space jam world, where breathy vocals beckon and lap steel rises and falls, where drum rhythms swell, then slam.” They are performing at Sugar Town at Tritone on Saturday, July 31 with some other cool Philly bands including The Party Photographers, The Sky Drops and Frisky or Trusty. Thanks to the band, here’s a free song for you to check out and share with your friends. - WXPN


"'Cause I'm a Creepoid"

The slide careens in a distant, reverb-y corner of the band’s basement tapes. Combined with Anna’s voice, tentative and haunting this time, it is probably what invites the dream pop and Mazzy Star comparisons — particularly on the sensual rise-and-fall of “Pink Tag Sale.”
Pat shrugs it off. “Nobody in Mazzy Star has fucking Black Flag tattoos,” he says. “Nobody in Mazzy Star records in their basement on 30-year-old equipment.”
“It’s all relative. The songs on Yellow Life Giver — and the more recent digital single, Graveblanket — are clipped and dirty. Behind a soaring violin, you hear the hum of idling amps. As the arrangements swell, the audio fractures in fuzz. But each instrumental nuance remains distinct and evocative. “Rotten Tooth” recalls the narcotic neuroses of K Records-era Beck; “Stranger” suggests Sebadoh, or a more recent Philadelphia parallel- Kurt Vile…. - The City Paper Philadelphia


"Local psych-pop Creepoid continues to impress"

Local psych-pop Creepoid continues to impress with fuzzed out chants like “Stranger”. Substantially lo-fi and gritty, this new-ish number plays out warm with meticulous reverb and laidback riffs. Moody guy-girl vocals swell while shaking cymbals meet tambourine, resulting in the same caustic calm The Kills exude. As heard on both sides of their debut vinyl EP Yellow Life Giver, Creepoid’s songs sound out chill yet urgent, settling somewhere between overt emotion and playing it coy. Balanced might be the word for it, or perhaps precise emphasis. Whichever, Creepoid does it well, making tracks like “Pink Tag Sale” a must have with its snare based dreamy tempo and washed-out vibes. However, expect to hear tonight at Pilam some new songs that they’ve been working on for their upcoming full length Horse Heaven currently scheduled for release in January 2011 via Ian Records. Oh, did we forget to mention the jangly pop of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart? - Deli Magazine, Philadelphia


"Philly Local Philes: Creepoid’s “Pink Tag Sale”"

“Philly pysch quartet Creepoid works best in informal surroundings. The band’s brilliant Yellow Life Giver 7? was recorded in the basement of their Manayunk rowhouse, mixers perched on a washer/dryer and amps resting alongside utility shelves. When they get out, the sets they’ve played in record shops (Beautiful World Syndicate) and warehouses (The Ox) outshine those proper stages. So the living room stage at Penn/Drexel punk fraternity Pi Lam is an ideal setting to catch Creepoid this Friday Oct. 22, as they put the finishing touches on their forthcoming full-length Horse Heaven, due out in January on Ian Records.” - WXPN the Key


Discography

debut ep "Yellow Life Giver" on phonographic arts 2010
has two radio singles:

"see through"
http://xpn.org/allaboutthemusic/my-morning-download-72210-creepoid-8117

"pink tag sale"
http://thekey.xpn.org/2010/10/philly-local-philes-creepoids-pink-tag-sale/

"HORSE HEAVEN" LP out 1/11/11 Produced by Kyle "Slick" Johnson ( wavves, modest mouse)

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Bio

Creepoid was started in Philadelphia during a brutal snow storm in January 2010. By March, they released their debut ep "Yellow Life Giver" (Phonographic Arts).

Creepoid is now in the studio working with Kyle “Slick” Johnson (WAVVES, MODEST MOUSE) on their first Full-Lenth LP, "Horse Heaven" (1/11/11 IAN RECORDS).

influences: 13 floor elevators, beck, muddy waters, pavement.....more