Like Minded Criminals

CONCERT REVIEWS
Nonstop to Cairo x Like Minded Criminals @ Amityville Music Hall
February 12, 2018 - by 801red - Leave a Comment

When I see that The Blacklist Collective is sponsoring a show, I know that the show is going to be impressive. Louis Navas has this uncanny ability to find bands that sync perfectly with the headliner. This show was no exception, as he found a variety of bands of different genres that all had the crowd rocking along. This past Friday The Blacklist Collective promoted yet another killer show. Being that Nonstop to Cairo was the headliner, there was no chance I was missing the show. The band has been a big supporter of The After Hours Review since the very beginning. I’ve now seen Nonstop to Cairo three times and each time they impress me more and more.

When I arrived at Amityville Music Hall, Like Minded Criminals were taking the stage. Here were three guys on stage all wearing bandana’s over their face. Having never heard of them before, I was curious to see how they would perform. The band began with Black and White off their album, Drowning in Bed. Kevin Preller (vocals and guitar) had the opportunity to show the crowd what he was capable of with this intro song. The song begins with the slow strum of a guitar and Kevin’s powerful vocals. “Take your time, live every day like your last one. This life you lead you can watch it go by, it’s a fast one. Live and we die and we all wanna live black and white, oh we live and we die and we all wanna live…” Once the last word sang, the band immediately went into jam mode and showed off their hard rock nature. Looking around the music hall, there wasn’t a person who’s attention was not immediately turned to the stage when the band started rocking; very impressive for an opening band.


Like Minded Criminal’s didn’t let up after that opening song. They continued to throw down on stage and make a fan of myself, my friends that were with me and without a doubt, the rest of the crowd! They continued with two more songs from Drowning in Bed before playing Out of the Black (a Royal Blood cover). The band took this Royal Blood song and amplified it times 1000. It’s always cool when you hear a cover song and realize you like the cover version more than the original. I am a fan of the original song but I definitely enjoy Like Minded Criminal’s cover of the song that much more!


The band ended off with High and Dry followed by And I’m the Liar?!, my two personal favorite songs from the album. High and Dry starts off with a slow guitar riff before entering into a full jam session. The album version of this song absolutely shreds and so does their live version. The boys of Like Minded Criminals were able to replicate the sound of their album perfectly with each song they played. It always sucks to see a band that tries too hard to emulate the sound from their studio album. Like Minded Criminals didn’t have to try, they did it with ease. And I’m the Liar?!, the final song of the night was the perfect way to end their set. Possibly the hardest rock song on the album, the instrumentals and vocals of the song flooded the music hall and got everyone moving. There wasn’t a still body in the crowd.


Currently, Like Minded Criminals is looking for a permanent drummer and trying to tour as much as possible. They have a couple of shows coming up in March and small weekend tour set up for this coming April. They also plan to start recording new music in the near future. Check below for their tour dates!

Nonstop to Cairo tore down the house, as expected. The liveliness and animation that the band puts forth when they are performing on stage is something that every band should strive to possess. In the three times that I have seen Nonstop to Cairo in action, they have made each show a little unique. This time, the band performed Rooted from their 2012 self-titled EP. Rooted is the very first song I heard from the band. The song is what made me a fan and got me to purchase tickets to see them the very next night back in November. Needless to say, it was an unforgettable moment to see them perform the song live.


Something I love about Nonstop to Cairo are the jam sessions that they perform throughout their shows. They’re not one of those bands that performs 20+ minute jam sessions; they keep it short and simple and always have the crowd dying for more. Nonstop to Cairo played a lot of my favorites, such as Influenzska, Skip, July 8th and Not Allison. Each song that they performed had every single person in the crowd dancing and singing along. Even their slower songs were still able to captivate the crowd and keep every person in the crowd rocking. Nonstop to Cairo is a force to be reckoned with. How they haven’t hit mainstream success like bands such as Reel Big Fish and Streelight Manifesto is beyond me. It’s only a matter of time before they blow up!


To no surprise at all, Louis Navas promoted another mind-blowing show. Every band he had perform did an amazing job on stage. Each band won the crowd over from the start and had them jamming along to their music. I will continue to check out each show that Louis Navas promotes! Check out tour dates below for Nonstop to Cairo and Like Minded Criminals!

Like Minded Criminals
March 10th – Revolution Bar in Amityville, New York

March 31st – Venue TBA soon

April 6th- Gussy’s Bar in Astoria, New York

April 7th, Bar XIII in Wilmington, Delaware

April 8th – Venue TBA soon



Nonstop to Cairo
February 17th – Frozen Harbor Music Festival in Baltimore, Maryland

February 18th – Rooted Kava Lounge in Wilmington, North Carolina - The After Hours Review

If you frequent this site, or have ever had a conversation with me about music, you know I love showing up to concerts early enough to catch every act, because I often discover great bands who happen to be opening.

The other week I attended a show at Arlene’s Grocery in the LES, and on the four band bill the opener was a Long Island-based rock trio named Like Minded Criminals. Their set was yet another reminder of why I arrive early to concerts.

What made them so memorable?

1. They want to rock your face off

From the first chord, to the final drumbeat, Like Minded Criminals played a blistering set of hard rock that emulated the ideology of Barney Stinson’s “Get Psyched” mixtape – “People think a good mix should rise and fall. But people are wrong. It should be all rise, baby!”

There may have been one slow song in their entire set, and if you didn’t take the opportunity to breathe then, you blew it!

2. They have some retro hard rock influences

Somewhere around the second, or third, song in their set I felt a slightly familiar vibe. The way the bass was being played, and the drums were sounding, was vaguely reminiscent of The Toadies (if you don’t remember The Toadies, they had a hit in 1994 with the song “Possum Kingdom,” and yes, I know I’m old).

This was very cool to me because, point blank, it’s a great f*cking sound.

3. They have a sense of humor

Like Minded Criminals don’t feel the need to be completely serious on stage. How do I know this? Because I’m the guy who will yell things when there’s a brief lull in the action. For some reason, any sort of momentary silence calls to me to say something stupid, and it occasionally results in some fantastic interactions. One such interaction happened during Like Minded Criminals’ set.

Band: This is a song.
Me: I LOVE songs!
Band: It’s not a love song!

Also, near the end of their set they mentioned their merch table, and noted, “You know how to buy CDs.”

While bands want to be rock gods, you gotta love a band that also has a sense of humor, and likes to have a little fun while rocking out. - Adam's World

Like Minded Criminals

Unleash “Grace Under Pressure”

Drowning In Bed LP – Out 6/30


NEW YORK, NY – Like Minded Criminals have dropped the latest searing assault from their upcoming ‘Drowning In Bed’ LP.

Grace Under Pressure is 3 minutes 45 seconds of brooding angst, building to wall of guitars and wretched vocal howling from singer Kevin Preller.

This single is the latest offering to give fans a hint of the energy evident on the ‘Drowning In Bed’ LP, due out on all platforms, 6/30. Recorded at VuDu Studios, home of Mike Watts (The Dillinger Escape Plan, O’Brother) each forthcoming track promises to be a hard-hitting slice of ragged rock that bites. - withguitars.com

What a great band. They sound like a more serious Pixies, with their soft verses/loud choruses, plenty of kicking riffs, and great melodies. What a band. Like Minded Criminals is Kevin Preller, Eric Ponto, and Anthony Quartararo. Coming from the East Coast, they have played with everyone, and often outshine those guys. This is a band with teeth. I love these guys. You can headbob to them all day. Amazingly tight, this is the new band for me. They are the way grunge was supposed to sound: independent, angry, wild, scruffy. Like Minded Criminals are all that. - Audio Fuzz

The alternative/hard rock band releases an intense new tune and dives into some interview questions.
Like Minded Criminals - Photo Credit: Tom Flynn

Long Island, New York’s Like Minded Criminals is Kevin Preller, Eric Ponto, and Anthony Quartararo. In the short span of two years these three self-taught musicians have been causing a ruckus on the East Coast, playing alongside bands like Crack Rock Steady 7, Michale Graves(the Misfits), Everyone Leaves, and more.

Like Minded Criminals just completed their first full-length record at Vudu studios, which is produced by Frank Mitaritonnia (Dillinger Escape Plan) and mixed by Mike Watts (The Deer Hunter, O'Brother).

“Grace Under Pressure”, which Rebel Noise premieres here, is a heavyweight workout of 3 minutes and 45 seconds of brooding angst that builds in intensity with a wall of guitars and wretched vocal howling from singer Preller.

Preller goes into detail about the meaning behind “Grace Under Pressure”, revealing, “For me, it’s one of the most meaningful tracks on our album, the song skirts around both the loss of a father figure to me and the loss of my girlfriend at the time, Grace. Thomas Peterson used to own our local music store on Long Island, Eastport Music Scene, and was a strong father figure in my life; he was always there when I (or anyone else, for that matter) needed advice. He lost his battle with cancer on 4/28/15. The song is ultimately about realizing your own mortality and that your actions affect other people.”

Preller and the band also unveil more details about themselves and their music in the following INTERVIEW:

Hi guys! So you're from Long Island, NY. What's the live music scene there like and how do you fit into it?

Hey! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us! The Long Island music scene is kind of interesting I guess. For the most part it tends to be very "cliquey" based on genre or location. Which makes it interesting for us because we have some really light acoustic songs and some really heavy songs so we tend to try and float around to everyone and not get too deep with anyone one clique.

We're premiering your emotive alternative rock track "Grace Under Pressure" today and it moves between calmer verse passages and crushing chorus sections. Can you give some background on the meaning of the song?

The song is sort of reflection on mistakes I've made in my life. The absence of words in the choruses kind of symbolizes the fact that all of these things are in the past and there’s not really anything I can say to fix them or make them better. Just have to keep moving forward.

You're all self-taught musicians! How difficult was it to achieve your current skill set? Is it a lonely, focused road to follow or have you enjoyed the process?

It’s definitely a bit of both. It’s not even a matter of enjoying it, it’s just who we are. If we couldn't play music we just wouldn't be us and we've certainly lost people we care about because they don't really understand that fact. We don't really blame them; we don't really understand it much ourselves.

At what stage are you in recording your debut album? Have you released any singles or EPs prior to this upcoming full-length?

The album is definitely complete. We’re really happy with how it came out and have to give a huge thanks to Frank Mitaritonna who produced it and of course to the great Mike Watts for mixing the record to perfection. This is our first venture into the world as LMC but we have all played in bands together our whole lives. We have released 2 other singles so far ,the first being "20,000 Leagues Below The Sea" and the second, "And I'm The Liar?!"

Is "Grace Under Pressure" a good indication of what listeners will encounter on the album?

Definitely! “Grace” is actually my personal favorite song on the record. We've got heavier songs and softer songs but “Grace” is pretty much right down the middle and the lyrics are definitely indicative of what you'll hear on the rest of the album

Which artists/band inspire your sound and/or outlook?

We could easily talk forever about our favorite musicians so I’ll try to keep this short - haha. My personal go-to answer for this for a while has been Soundgarden which is light of recent events has hit us all pretty hard. We all listen to a pretty wide variety of music from rap to hardcore to sad acoustic songs. Lyrically I consider Elliott Smith to be my all-time favorite idol but we draw from obvious bands such as Queens Of The Stone Age, Royal Blood, The Chariot, and others. - Rebel Noise

VOTD: Like Minded Criminals – And I’m The Liar?! - http://forusnotthem.com/

We’re pleased to bring you the premiere of Like Minded Criminals’ new song “And I’m The Liar ?!” (listen below). The track is taken from the band’s forthcoming album Drowning In Bed, which is scheduled to be released this summer.

Like Minded Criminals guitarist/vocalist Kevin Preller commented:

“When I write new songs there are times when the music is ready and the band has been practicing it but I’m not sure what the lyrics should be about yet. So to fight writers block we play them live at smaller shows and I just kinda sing the first thing that comes to my mind just to force myself to come up with something. I remember really struggling with the lyrics for this one until one day we were playing it at little bar out in Bethpage, NY and in walks our freshly ex bass player who left cause he couldn’t commit to the band, now playing with a new band and with none other than my ex girlfriend (who most of the record is about), needless to say I had plenty to sing about that night. and then the lyrics kinda stuck from then on. When it came time to record vocals for the album I had gotten incredibly sick and had cancelled the first day of vocals, however I refused to cancel again the next day so we brought a bucket into the vocal booth so I could sing a few takes, go throw up and then sing some more so a lot of the angst and misery on that song and ‘Grace Under Pressure’ is pretty real. I later ended up actually needing to get an emergency cholecystectomy to remove my gallbladder.”

Like Minded Criminals is Kevin Preller, Eric Ponto, and Anthony Quartararo. In the short span of two years these three self taught musicians have been causing a swarm in the tri-state area, playing alongside bands like Crack Rock Steady 7, The Shanks, InCircles and more. - New Noise Magazine