Multitudes

It is unclear whether the name invokes Negri's Empire, the Sermon on the Mount, Walt Whitman, or all of the above. What we do know is that Multitudes strives to bring a new level of raw expression to their music, searching for the simplest, most common human emotions, then building up seemingly conventional song structures only to shatter them with post-hardcore, free jazz-inspired improvisation. They take us to the edge of what we think we've heard, what we feel we may have heard, and just as we begin to fall off, they reach out and grab us with familiarity. To the uninitiated, these breakdowns and excursions can seem alienating, but those who hang on are sure to be swept up in a storm of cinematic sound akin to Ennio Morricone or the off-kilter expressionism of the downtown scene in NYC.

Multitudes brings sound down from the intellectual safety of our heads and into the insecure bellows of our guts, cleansing our frightened souls with a truly pure form of inspiration. Nothing passes the drawing board without unanimous approval. Guitarist Patrick Foley, whose groups have often been compared to early SST acts like Black Flag, Husker Du, and the Minutemen, draws inspiration as much from the hardcore of Greg Ginn as from the deconstructionist philosophy of Derek Bailey. Bassist Brian House jumps between traditional rock bass lines and ambient, textural background noise, helping to create a bigger sound than is expected from a power trio. Drummer Alex Lambert's style blends the power and ferocity of heavy music with the subtlety and finesse of jazz better than most who try, stripping both down to its emotional core.

Lambert met Foley in Atlanta when he joined The Flakes, an iconoclastic noise rock band Foley started in 1998 with Randy Castello, the man behind the now-semi-famous Atlanta music promotion company Tight Bros Network. The Flakes were a truly free form of post-punk -- without songwriting or even coordinated live shows -- that gained a reputation for their cacophonous harmony. Alex had hardcore roots (he played in the legendary Atlanta group Blame Game), and brought a new ferocity to the dueling, swirling guitars. Lambert and Foley both moved to New York, and they knew that The Flakes was a natural starting point for a new project in Brooklyn, but Foley wanted to have a bass player this time to provide more of an opportunity for a solid rock pocket. He put a craigslist add up for a bass player who could both rock and keep up with their US-Maple/Albert Ayler-inspired excursions. Their only response came from Brian House, a bassist previously active on the experimental scene in Göteborg, Sweden. With both jazz and noise experience, House provided the missing link for the group's foray into an alternate universe, creating a smart, blistering, and poignant new paradigm for their musical exploration.