Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Oh My Rockness - March 2005 - "Pretty in Pixels should be required listening for any band that doesn't have a lot of money to spend in the recording studio but still wants it to sound good. This is hi-fi production on a slim-to-nothin' budget. A very solid band that probably won't stay unsigned for long."
The Tripwire - March 2005 - "...the audience was packed to the rafters...As soon as the band took the stage the onlookers hushed and prepared themselves for quite a show...Images of static screen television meeting modern art filled the back wall, while the music filled the room...Radiohead’s guitars mixed with the vocal styling of Interpol...My one complaint was that I wish there was more room so I could have gotten my dance on! I would highly suggest seeing them live..."
Verbose Coma - March 2005 - "I love this band...The Fatales write moody, spaced out melodies that climb inside your head and start building nests. Their album Pretty in Pixels is a stunning example of talent winning out over funding, as it sounds like it cost some label a zillion dollars to produce when they in fact released all on their own."
The Tripwire - December 2004 - "...Incorporating Radiohead-esque guitar, electronic elements, strings, piano and various layers of sampling, The Fatáles create a rich sonic springboard for frontman Wayne Switzer's guttural, masculine, sometimes out of control vocals. They work the electronics into the mix extremely effectively, using them to segue between tracks and create an overall natural and flowing vibe to the record....[which include] the blip-filled EP opener "The Cosmonaut", [and] the driving, brooding and dark "Ministry Of Defense"...I find it surprising that no one has snatched these guys up yet. They're ripe for the picking!"
Splendid - August 2004 -
"...this juicy little space-pop nugget should be enough to tag them as one of the best-unsigned bands in the country."
The Tripwire - September 2004 - "This unsigned Brooklyn-by-way-of-DC quintet have sent us one of the coolest unsolicited CDs we've received in a long time."
Delusions of Adequacy - February 2004 - "...the production on Pretty in Pixels is impeccable, and the songwriting and musicianship even more impressive."
Jenyk.com - September 2004 - "...maddeningly close to being something glorious and grandly majestic...these lads have that oh so rare je ne sais quois of perfectly balanced chops, duds, hooks, and looks...and a dark yet trusting in beauty vision unique only to them."
Left Off the Dial - February 2004 - "The production on this album sounds absolutely beautiful."
IGN Music - January 2004 - "The Fatales deliver the best album you've never heard." - Press
Discography
Pretty in Pixels (2004, EP) - A Fall 2004 radio campaign with Clermont helped the EP to #55 in the CMJ charts and #34 in the core radio charts. Pretty in Pixels was also in heavy rotation at 3wk.com, was featured on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, WBCN Boston's Nocturnal Omissions with Oedipus, and XMU Satellite. There are three tracks available for download at www.thefatales.com.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
The Fatales are a five-piece originally from Washington D.C., currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. The Fatales deliver infectious guitar-and-synth driven rock, breathing with sexy atmospherics, electronics, and Britpop sensibilities.
In Spring 2005 The Fatales returned to the scene after a near year-long hiatus creating a buzz with a packed, sold out show at Pianos in New York Citys lower east side, followed by a DIY benefit concert at Northsix in Brooklyn late April. The benefit was conceived and organized by The Fatales to raise awareness about the atrocities happening in the Darfur region of Sudan. With only two weeks of planning and under one week of promotion, the band was able to build a lineup that included Kevin Devine, Jeffrey Lewis (Rough Trade), and Stars (Broken Social Scene, Metric), drawing over 300 people and raising over $2000 for various organizations.
Since their formation in 2002, their credits have grown to include invitations to the 2003 & 2004 CMJ Music Marathons as well as support slots for acts like The Dresden Dolls, Starlight Mints, The Album Leaf, 22-20s, and Stars. Their 7-track EP, 2004s Pretty in Pixels, garnered critical acclaim for its glitchy, moody, atmospheric pop most commonly drawing comparisons to Interpol and Radiohead. In the week of its release, the self-produced, self-released album was the #14 Most Added on CMJ and after just two weeks, climbed to #34 on the CMJ Core Charts, receiving airplay on 3WK.com, XMU, WBCNs Nocturnal Emissions hosted by legendary program director Oedipus, and even KCRW's famed "Morning Becomes Eclectic." In a review, Splendid Magazine proclaimed The Fatales, "...one of the best unsigned bands in the country."
Pretty in Pixels was recorded and mixed at Headgear Production and Recording Studios (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, T.V. on the Radio, Ambulance, Ltd.) in Brooklyn, NY by Dan Long and mastered at West West Side Music in Tenafly, NJ by the great Alan Douches. The single, Ministry of Defense, has been popular with club DJs throughout the U.S. and Europe, even garnering spins by the likes of Bob Mould for his modish D.C. dance party, Blowoff. The song was also chosen as the opening track to Velvet Blues 2004 unsigned band compilation, Start the Music, selected and produced by Jeff Cloud of Starflyer 59.
The Fatales are Chris Lord (guitar), Dan Sisco (drums, programming), Wayne Switzer (vocals, guitar), Ryan Vernon (bass, programming), and James Wu (keys, synths).
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ALBUM REVIEWS:
Splendid - "...this juicy little space-pop nugget should be enough to tag them as one of the best-unsigned bands in the country."
Amanda Palmer (The Dresden Dolls & Eight Foot Records) - Pretty in Pixels mixes first-class songwriting with an infectious new sound that also sounds ungraspably familiar...it's a disc that obstinately refuses to leave the changer. My only complaint is that it's too goddamn short.
The Tripwire - "This unsigned Brooklyn-by-way-of-DC quintet have sent us one of the coolest unsolicited CDs we've received in a long time."
Delusions of Adequacy - "...the production on Pretty in Pixels is impeccable, and the songwriting and musicianship even more impressive."
Jenyk.com - "... glorious and grandly majestic...these lads have that oh so rare je ne sais quois of perfectly balanced chops, duds, hooks, and looks...and a dark, yet trusting-in-beauty vision, unique only to them."
IGN Music - EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARD: "The Fatales deliver the best album you've never heard."
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