Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"The first song off The Failed Alliances mp3 demo playlist is all clattery drums and gliding spookdrone guitars and echoey abandoned vocals and its only 2 mins and 23 seconds long which means you have to replay it a lot. Go and get it."
--Warren Ellis - blog post
"Melancholic melodies combine with a lo-fi wall of sound in the first demo from The Failed Alliance, an upand-coming Philadelphia four-piece. The songs plaintive lyrics are matched by Timothy Tebordos ragged but resonant tenor and are given life by sweeping harmonies, pulsing drums, and dynamic guitars that alternately swell, crunch, and fall away. Though the bands bio refers to the mutual animosity and clashing personalities of its members, their music presents an impressively cohesive front of moody atmospherics and earnest songwriting. Perfect, I gotta say, for a live show."
--Alex Morales, norfortourists.com-- - notfortourists.com
Discography
"the no sound of philadelphia" EP, 2006
simple impulse (trck 1) aired on WPRB's Jon Solomon Show
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Philadelphia is a city without a scene. Sure, there was the Sound of Philadelphia in the 1970s , but latter-day efforts to define the city's scenes (cf. the short-lived and unfulfilling Psychedelphia, or as an epicenter of the 'freak-folk' movement) were weak at best. It’s possible to argue the merits of a singular genre defining the sound of a city, but too often the sound of Philadelphia can be easily described as safe if not boring. This is not to say that there are no great bands in Philadelphia, but trying to make a singular sound does us all a disservice; it’s time to make Philadelphia a safe place to be a dangerous band. With that in mind, the Failed Alliance would like to introduce "The No Sound of Philadelphia."
The Failed Alliance. Blissed out songs draped over clanging percussion; dissonance and noise shielding a pop heart. Their previous lo-fi demos couldn't contain the complexity of the music; the sound was too nuanced and massive to be buried beneath layers of tapehiss and fuzz.
True to their name, The Failed Alliance are antagonistic brothers who could be preparing to bite or kiss as they yell/sing into the same microphone; their sister's ex-boyfriend who bangs the drums as if he's angry at himself for forgetting to quit the band after the acrimonious split; and a lead guitarist who can't remember why he moved from sunny California to the gritty East, so he’s taking out on his guitar.
As people they may not always get along; as a band, they process their divergent tastes to come up with something uniquely their own. "The No Sound of Philadelphia" captures a band capable of shifting effortlessly from propulsive gauze-pop verse to post-punk chorus, only to be followed up by a hollerin' and stompin' 6/8 breakdown in the span of a single song ("He Proves me a Liar"). Forget interpersonal drama; musically, they are able to make the alliance work.
But they're no mere genre-hoppers, and definitely not trend-chasers. They rise above their influences in a way that makes sense, with threads that follow from song to song: Thom's pounding drums, Christian's loping bass lines, and Micah's feedback-laden leads. Their songs have a musical depth, and Timothy's lyrics invite listeners to engage on any level they choose. In a live setting, they often choose to engage with fingers in ears. However you choose, pleased to meet you.
see also:
www.myspace.com/thefailedalliance
www.thefailedalliance.com
the failed alliance has played shows with: the plastic constellations, wilderness, green milk from the planet orange, the anomoanon...
Under the Influence of: Slint, Mogwai, Will Oldham, The Dismemberment Plan, Quicksand, My Bloody Valentine, The Modern Lovers, 108, Blonde Redhead, Les Savy Fav, Polvo, Mission of Burma, Sebadoh, Tricky, Sonic Youth, Drunks With Guns, Hüsker Dü, Refused, Flying Saucer Attack
Links
