PRIESTS
Gig Seeker Pro

PRIESTS

| INDIE

| INDIE
Band Rock Comedy

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"from CHART ATTACK(www.chartattack.com)November 9, 2004:"

THE PRIESTS
Tall Tales
(Get Hip)

As long as bands like The Priests keep crawling out of the trash, stanky and seething garage rock will never be forgotten. These guys are slimin' out by recalling the orgasmic thrills of old Pebbles records with tons of fuzzed-out guitar and farfisa drenched organ rave ups. Singer Matt Allyn's snotty screech ranks right up there with original horkers like Sky Saxon from The Seeds or The Standells' Dick Dodd. Gigantic thumper "More" is a bombastic sonic attack deserving of all the attention its been getting from Little Steven and his Underground Garage radio show. Tall Tales is much scuzzier than anything the current crop of so-called garage rockers could ever hope to achieve. - Dan


"from HIGH BIAS(www.highbias.com) December 5, 2004:"

THE PRIESTS
Tall Tales
(Get Hip)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Nuggets-parroting garage rock thing has been done to slow, lingering death. Yet it endures, and why? Because of bands like the Priests. Not that the quartet is doing anything particularly unique in the idiom, though the frequent substitution of organ for bass at least gives them a distinctive rhythm feel. The Priests write strong tunes like the sleazy "Baby Doll," the limber "Wayward Waltz" and the crunching "More" and perform like they're wrestling the songs to the ground in order to give them sloppy hickeys. Then there's the epic monster "Take What You Bring," which stretches to ten minutes of burning intensity without becoming a soulless wankfest. Rock & roll, baby.
- Michael Toland


"from LOSING TODAY(www.losingtoday.com) Issue #5:"

THE PRIESTS
Tall Tales
(Get Hip)

For some reason one of the most shocking things for a lot of people is when they read about members of the clergy going off the rails and indulging in an orgy of pleasures of the flesh whilst loaded on an enormous cocktail of illegal Class As. Quite why this is scandalous is anybody’s guess, after all, after a lifetime of abstinence and drinking the blood of the saviour like it’s wine or something, you’re bound to snap aren’t you?

These Priests aren’t preaching the word of God of course: nope they missed out the religion part and headed straight for the sex and drugs. The only altar they know of is the one where you sacrifice the virgin in the name of ROCK AND ROLL. Possibly.

The Priests’ vision of Rock and Roll is a dirty one. Like looking at a porno mag through a pair of spectacles that have been dropped in a swamp. Grimy guitars are layered over relentless hypnotic drums and a seething organ, while Matt Allin preaches his sermon over the top. All the sleaziest rudiments of Rock’s past are represented in The Priests sound. There are elements of the Velvets and Jesus and Mary Chain (all black clothes and pounding drums). There’s the bourbon grizzled voices of Bon Scott and Alex Harvey channeled through Allin’s throat, and then there’s the wig outs of The Doors and the shimmy of Morrison’s snake like hips. Admittedly these influences sound hideously dated, but in The Priests’ hands these tunes become something like a new gospel. Tall Tales is an album full of solid rock songs, with grooves a mile deep, every song is a celebration. It’s an album that’s impossible not to fall in love with. The Priests will probably spend a great deal of time preaching to the converted, but with a sound as irresistible as this, their audience should swell quickly.
- Sam Shephard


"from COSMIK DEBRIS(www.cosmik.com)"

THE PRIESTS
Tall Tales
(Get Hip)

There are albums you instantly like, there are albums are immediately drawn to and can't stop listening to, and then there are the ones that you can't stop evangelizing to everyone you know. Yes, I do see the irony: I'm evangelizing The Priests, but I do so without shame, for I have been smitten by the unmistakable sounds of that other rock and roll dream.
This ain't power pop, baby. The sound is rising up from sub-level Z in the parking garage. Fuzzed-out guitars float on a Farfisa vibe and tribal pounding, the sound of darkness and fog everywhere as Matt Allyn moans out from behind it all, starting gentle, almost fragile before ripping into a full-throated scream that tears down your spine. I could probably come up with a few singers Allyn sounds semi-sorta like, but his delivery is so different from any of the names I'd have on the list that it'd be a waste of time. When his bandmates go 180 degrees from their normal minor-keys-and-riffs territory (oh so momentarily) and seem to be showing us the way to the next whiskey bar, Allyn arrives on the scene and serves notice that we're not really going there, opting instead for a trippin' bit of contrast. Nothing particularly fancy, mind you, just simple riffs played in a mesmerizing way over a bass-drum groove that's just as simple and therefore just as effective.

I can't get any of it out of my head, personally. This is a revelation for anyone who likes to float on their garage music but wishes it also had an edge.
- DJ Johnson


"from SPLENDID EZINE(www.splendidezine.com) January 18, 2005:"

THE PRIESTS
Tall Tales
(Get Hip)

Tall Tales kicks off with a squall of feedback, then plants its boots in the muddy sound of '60s garage rock and stays put for the duration. The organ-work more or less demands comparisons with The Doors -- though until "Going Back Home"'s oompah energy comes along, The Priests are more Murder City Devils than Morrison and Manzarek. This is especially true of "She Don't"'s nice 'n' sleazy riffing -- vocalist Matt Allen sounds kinda like Royal Trux's Neil Hagerty.
Tracks like "While I Walk Away" and "Baby Doll" wear the ballsy swagger well (particularly when the guitar drops out on the latter to give the bass and drums some room), though at just over three minutes apiece, they're already overlong. The longer tracks inevitably suffer from a lack of editing, and what could've been the album's highlight, the foot stomping riff-fest "Take What You Bring" instead yawns its way to the eight minute mark after some (admittedly worthwhile) soloing goes on for too damn long.
The Priests clearly have the talent to pull off a good garage record, but they'll need to start keeping an eye on the tape counter before they do it.
- Nick Norton


"from AVERSION(www.aversion.com):"

THE PRIESTS
Tall Tales
(Get Hip)

Infusing classic garage rock sounds with a touch or menace, The Priests create a noise that's not constrained by the revivalist limitations.
Back in the ’60s, before revivalism had been invented and rock’n’roll fashion was about secondhand blue jeans, garage rock was, ever briefly, a glimmer of primal rock’n’roll rebellion. These days, even before The White Stripes and The Hives turned rock nostalgia into a multimillion dollar industry, garage-rock was always a little weird, a self-consciously anachronistic noise bred by obsessively esoteric record collectors and escapist.
Although it’s impossible to cut through the decades of garage-rock tradition and revivalism, The Priests do a reasonably good job of it on Tall Tales. The band’s Get Hip debut finds the New York band amputating much of the style’s scene-conscious trappings for nine songs that merge the feral immediacy of Nuggets-era rockers with a moody sense of noir that touches on everyone from The Doors to Pleasure Forever.
It’s not a sound designed to get go-go aficionados changing their underwear: The Priests dismiss notions of authenticity – as well as the punked-up version of post-millennial garage rock – with a wave of a hand, instead opting for an idiosyncratic sound. The moody organs in “Wayward Waltz” nearly work up the nerve to ask the way to the next whiskey bar when a searing guitar, dripping with blood, sweat and vintage reverb, stomps all over any credible Ray Manzarek allusion we could come up with. In “Undone,” The Priests could be mistaken for contemporaries of The Troggs or Them, though not because of painstakingly accurate research: With The Priests, it’s a matter of attitude rather than the lineage of their riffs or equipment. “Take What You Bring” stretches the band father from the garage-rock ghettoes, striking up a spacious sound that’s the sinister step-brother to the Merseybeat-lite of Paul Revere and the Raiders or the R&B of The Kingsmen.
The Priests leave the primping and fawning up to The Hives and their ilk. Tall Tales doesn’t have time to recreate – or even reinvent – the past. Guided by garage traditions, but willing to step all over them, The Priests prove that the style’s latest popularity boom isn’t choking the life out of it after all.
- Matt Schild


"from POPMATTERS(www.popmatters.com March 28, 2005:"

THE PRIESTS
Tall Tales
(Get Hip)

It comes in waves -- groups with leather jackets, the dark shades, and the no-holds-barred rock and roll. These groups become media darlings, get signed to contracts, release a few albums, and then go away. In five years time the wave returns and so on and so on. Colin Tyranny, Matt Allyn, Lord Robb, and Billie Jacque have all the charisma of a rock band from their dry ice and attire. And hell, the publicist wouldn't be blowing smoke up the butts of writers with lines like, " . . . The Priests do not need rock-n-roll. Rock-n-roll needs The Priests", would they?
Nonetheless, the Priests want to convey that image, sound, and veneer with a loud, raunchy, and boogie-infused style that brings to mind the Doors, Eric Burdon, and the Zombies. Lead singer Matt Allyn starts off lost somewhat in the mix during "Not from Me", a deliberate track that doesn't take too many chances, resembling an emaciated Mooney Suzuki. The jagged rock riffs one expects are instead usurped by the antiquated organ and the obligatory tambourine pounding. In spite of all this, it is still fairly good and picks up roughly two minutes in. The groove is from T.S.O.O.L. (The Soundtrack of Our Lives) University but it doesn't lack the oomph or power that Ebbott Lundburg and company so easily transmit. By the third or fourth listen it will grow on you, but not to any great extent.
"She Don't" fares far better with more intensity and urgency from the drop of drummer Billie Jacque's drum sticks on the skins. The fuzzed-out guitars are present but presented in a low-key kind of way. It's as if they're building the listener for something explosive and monumental, but still keep you waiting for the one great moment. They play it far too safe here. Unfortunately, that song looks like a winner compared to "Going Back Home", a track that sounds like a cross between the Doors' "Alabama Song" and some rudimentary polka. What is also disappointing is that you think the group has it in them to break out, but it hasn't happened yet. The bridge opens the group up into a likeable psychedelic jam, but played too close to their musical vests. The first sign of any edge or bite comes during the unlikely titled "Wayward Waltz". Here, Allyn is quite strong despite the rather ordinary or laissez-faire blueprint. Tyranny offers a few adequate licks but it's a missed opportunity at truly nailing the tune.

The highlight of the nine-track album is a tribal stomping "More" that is fuelled by high energy and a great hook that builds and builds. If you were comparing it to a car, the song hits third gear consistently with a few fleeting moments of fourth. Nothing cute, just a solid rock tune which more than satisfies! What irritates the hell out of me, though, is how with a little effort these songs could turn heads, but the Priests often seem to take the easier road. This is especially evident on "Undone", which bubbles to the surface before sliding back down quite a few notches. They attempt to go into a rave up near the end, but too little too late. "While I Walk Away" realizes the group's potential despite the rather pedestrian pace and quasi haunting, mostly cheesy organ hues.
The Priests find their footing with the last two tracks, a ballsy "Baby Doll" that has all the snarls and sneers at the right boogie-inducing, hip-shaking places. And "Take What You Bring", despite being a lazy little seven-minute trot, manages to find the groove and roll with it. The Priests aren't that high yet, but if they could just push themselves a bit more they would certainly distinguish themselves from the other garage band laity.
- Jason MacNeil


"from LOWCUT(www..lowcut.dk) Issue #20 January 2005:"

THE PRIESTS
Tall Tales
(Get Hip)

Cool stuff. "Tall Tales" is the third album from the unholy The Priests from New York. This is their first record at the cool label Get Hip Records. I haven't heard the Priests before so this is truly a pleasant surprise. They sound like a garage rock hybrid of other American acts like the Fuzztones, Makers and Seeds. Add some shocking B-movies, love and anxiety and you get The Priests. The singer Matt Allyn sounds pretty much like Sky Saxon from the great Seeds and that's not bad at all. Believe me. My favourites on "Tall Tales" are stompin' "Wayward Waltz" and the hypnotic sounds of the last song "Take What You Bring". They got some really strong tunes and I hope they'll drag their asses to Scandinavia really soon. It would be great to see this band live and I'm convinced that they can put up a really cool show

(four razorblades = "fantastic...like in really really good")
- Pär


Discography

"THE PRIESTS"(2000) - Released on Garage-Pop Records - www.garagepoprecords.com

"STREETWALKER"(2001) - Released on Garage-Pop Records - www.garagepoprecords.com

"TALL TALES"(2004) - Produced by Tim Kerr and Released on Get Hip Records - www.gethip.com

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

This State-of-New-York foursome embraces the mythic garage-rock-psych sounds of yesterday while creating the music of tomorrow in their own image. Hypnotic guitar lines, fuzzed-out organ and tribalistic back beats build the foundations of their unusual and original sound.

INFLUENCES: Nightmare Blues/Midnight Soul/Swampy Psych/Killing Rock & Roll

‘TALL TALES’, the PRIESTS latest release and first for GET HIP was produced by the great TIM KERR in a whirlwind 4 day session at Saxon Studios in Rochester, NY. While maintaining their signature sound, the band has pushed their own boundaries, experimenting with guitar layers, feedback, vocal techniques and time lengths, creating an album destined for greatness. Spread the word.