The Console War
Gig Seeker Pro

The Console War

Band Rock New Age

Calendar

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

Music

Press


""Effortlessly slides from sparse to lush and back again""

In the ongoing battle between electronic-pop “composers� hunched over various synths and sequencers while performing onstage and guitar-slinging musicians who insist that computer-chip-generated blips, bloops, and beeps do not equal music, the Console War straddles a fine line.

On record, the local duo sounds grounded in gentle guitar and vocal melodies backed by light drumming; live, however, well...they can apparently often be found hunched over a bunch of synths and sequencers. It’s a tricky alliance—as if fans of shoegaze pop didn’t already have enough reason to keep their eyes glued to the floor. But the end result is a brand of inoffensive indie-pop that effortlessly slides from sparse to lush and back again.

The Console War performs with the Bales and One-Eyed Stanley at 9:30 p.m. Friday, June 20, at the Red and the Black, 1212 H St. NE. $8. (202) 399-3201.

-Matthew Borlik - Washington City Paper


""A Welcome antidote to the PeterPanism infecting much indie rock currently"

Washington DC based The Console War aren't being completely honest when they say how much they're influenced by the Velvet Underground. Their album Shards is easier to listen to, without the Velvet's trademark grating. There are no maniacal Reed-like vocals (as in the end of "Heroin"), or his alternative tunings, and the War's drumming embraces cymbals in a listener-friendly way that Mo Tucker never would. Likewise, The Console War is difficult to compare to their peers. There's no wistfulness here in the sound or the lyrics, no cuteness, but instead an accepting of a hash worldview without pose - a welcome antidote to the Peter Pan-ism infecting much Indie rock currently.

Shards might be best typified as well thought out and performed nu-shoegazing. Mellow, sure, but without being weighed down by long reverb and notes played just a bit behind the beat to present a narcotic haze of noise. They are, however, big on the John Cale-style drone which they use effectively. The second track, "Causalities", brings in a fuzzy guitar that, with its repeated chords, begins to feel almost tribal until the song builds to a crescendo backed by a tinny sounding cymbal. Halfway through track three, "Out in Force" the music begins to eat itself, as if, in a dreamy way, two radio stations from far away have drifted over each other, only to brought back into focus by the vocalist, moaning, "What we don't know won't hurt us".

Shards is a good CD that moves beyond ambient background music and rewards repeated listenes. Reports on their live show have been good and I'm hoping their tour brings them near so I can take in the show. I'll be surprised if they are still unsigned at the end of the year.

http://indiemusicstop.blogspot.com/2007/
08/cd-review-console-war-shards.html - Indie Music Stop


""Hints at the forward-thinking sounds of Spacemen 3 and C86""

No matter what you say about the Console War, you have to give them this: they’re ambitious. On the duo’s debut, Shards, these two men from Washington, D.C., try to bring a lot to the table, and for the most part, they pull it off. With a combination of guitars, organs, synths, samplers and drums, they assemble a mid-paced, analog-fueled rock aesthetic that hints at the forward-thinking sounds of Spacemen 3 and C86. Showing a love for complex and unconventional song structures, tracks such as “America” and “Out in Force” seamlessly shift one idea to the next, becoming neither jarring nor awkward. However, the weak point in Shards rests in production. With the Console War recording and producing this on their own - and likely in some basement - the disc has a very crude, DIY sound, with instruments often bleeding into one another and downing each other out. Nonetheless, if you can look past the rough production, you will see these guys are onto something here. - Nerve Magazine


Discography

"Shards" -our debut LP, released summer 07.
"Cut the Cables" - EP finished spring 08.

Photos

Bio

We've played a bunch of great venues like:

-Fort Reno
-Black Cat
-Rock and Roll Hotel
-Knitting Factory
- etc.

And we'd like to play yours.

We have a new album coming out in Fall 2009.