The Hall Monitors
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The Hall Monitors

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"Washington Post's Comments"

"Go to a Hall Monitors show and you'll be baffled as to why D.C. audiences have a reputation for standing still and looking bored. This is a band that gets the crowd moving." 2.7.08

"The band has earned a reputation as one of the town's best live acts, with a set full of R&B-fueled garage rock nuggets and showmanship to spare. It recently scored a killer gig at Brooklyn's Cavestomp festival, where the Monitors will open for garage rock uber-legends the Sonics. Another great show will be next month at the State Theatre, when the band gets to back Eddie Angel, best known as guitarist for surf-rockers Los Straitjackets. As the Hall Monitors' profile continues to rise, chances to see them at smaller clubs may dwindle so take advantage of tonight's happening at the Quarry House." 10.6.07

"fuzzy, bluesy garage rock that sounds like it came off straight off the Nuggets box set." 12.9.06
- The Washington Post


"garage/R&B"

"one of the most promising garage/R&B acts we've heard in a while." 12.6.6

"You've heard it all a million times before — nobody dances at shows here! People don't get into the music! There's just no soul in D.C.'s music scene! The Hall Monitors heard your cry and happily came to answer the call with their brand of throwback garage rock & soul reminiscent of the guitar and Motown greats that made most of us (well, OK, me at least) learn to love music in the first place.

The four piece convened in the District from far flung places across the country at lead singer Sean Crowley's motivation to start a garage band. Guitarist Ginger Richards found some time in her schedule (which includes being part of the all-girl indie-pop band Federal City Five) for The Hall Monitors, and brothers Matt (bass) and Mike (drums) Sullivan decided to bring their lifetime worth of playing together to the effort. Their bluesy, old-school approach is sure to ring with comparisons to The Black Keys and The White Stripes, but what you really sense when you see these guys play is a great respect for the history of rock & roll — from Chuck Berry and the sounds of Motown, to more modern adaptations like rockabilly and punk.

The band is joyful to watch because they so clearly enjoy the music they're playing and the fact that they're up there playing at all. Crowley forces the crowd to close the gap between themselves and the band by getting right down on the floor to start the set, pushing and pulling with the audience until they're standing by the stage, right where they should be. In addition to having a great time, they've got the refreshing ring of musical perfectionists when they perform. The instrumentals are tight and powerful, the band is energetic and engaging, and the music is damn good. What more could you want from a live show?

In case you were thinking, "well, a sense of humor wouldn't hurt," don't worry, they've got that too. One of the most lighthearted moments of their set at DC9 recently came when Crowley introduced a song as "the number one song.... on our MySpace page." And if you were thinking, "it wouldn't hurt if they were good looking," they've got that covered too. A cute girl and three handsome men fill up the stage and officially leave us wanting for nothing. So we charge you with this: don't pass up the opportunity to see The Hall Monitors. Catch them when you can ." 6.26.07 - DCist.com


"Wowsville"

"As loud and fast as anything the ramones ever put out. WOWSVILLE" - The Washington City Paper


"Brian Jones Era Stones Meets Sex"

Standout Track: No. 4, “Give It Up,” which channels Brian Jones-era Rolling Stones in the name of good old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll fucking. “You got what I want/Everything I need,” singer-guitarist Sean Crowley declares before asking the desperate lover’s timeless question: “So why won’t you just give it up?” A lick swiped from Canned Heat’s “On the Road Again” minus psychedelia plus sex equals two minutes and 36 seconds of transcendent garage rock.

Musical Motivation: “We played high school talent shows and started out as a Cure cover band,” says drummer Michael Sullivan, who grew up in upstate New York with his brother, bassist Matt Sullivan, and Crowley. Still, the trio’s choice of material went beyond Disintegration: “‘Wooly Bully’ was in our set,” Sullivan says. When they reconvened in D.C. early last year, the Hall Monitors added Federal City Five alumna Ginger Richards on second guitar and decided to go garage. “Give It Up” was the first step in this new/old direction. “We are about raw, primitive, passionate energy,” Sullivan says. “We’re not trying to write übercomplicated indie tunes.”

Band of Enchantment: Though urban mods herald the Hall Monitors’ sexy lyrics and reverb-drenched guitars, the band’s timekeeper moved to a less-swingin’ locale last summer. “I am the director of a wilderness education organization in Albuquerque,” says Sullivan, 30, who meets up with his bandmates for tours and recording. “We lead trips through the backcountry.” But will the lonely, wind-swept mesas compromise the Hall Monitors’ gritty aesthetics? “It’s a gritty town,” Sullivan says of his New Mexico home. “I saw my first metal show. I’m not sure if I’m into [the music], but I’m into the spectacle.” 3.26.08
- The Washington City Paper


"the retro sound"

"Every town needs a garage rock scene, and a pretty fine one is emerging in D.C. Who needs Little Steven Van Zandt to bring his past-their-prime relics to town when we've got fine bands like the Hall Monitors? The quartet plays fuzzy, bluesy garage rock that sounds like it came straight off the "Nuggets" box set. Or at least one of those dozens of "Pebbles" compilations that soon followed. Garage rock is a genre in which originality is about the 43rd most important trait for a band to have; it's much more important to get those guitars just right and to be able to convincingly pull off the retro sound. And the Hall Monitors do that with ease. Catch them at the Velvet Lounge with the Fishnet Stalkers and the rockabilly-flavored Have Mercys , another fairly new local garage entity." 12.9.06 - The Washington Post


"The New York Dolls"

"The Hall Monitors' bluesy, blistering set oozed equal parts bravado-infused R&B and snarling punk, shredding through seven songs in just 20 minutes or less. Their influences, ranging from the Rolling Stones to The Cramps, were manifested in Crowley's Buddy Holly-stance at the mic, Richards' Chuck Berry-rife riffs, and Matt's Stones-infused bass rhythms, all the while Mike keeping time in Ringo-meets-Keith Moon fashion. The Hall Monitors, holding their own among the living legends of garage rock, proved to be a worthy appetizer for what was to follow." 11.30.06 - American University's The Eagle


"maximum rock 'n' soul"

"I'd also like to shine a big fat The Kids Are All Dead spotlight on a new local DC band called The Hall Monitors who came on last night and fucking ROCKED THE HOUSE DOWN! Throw in two shit-hot garage guitarists, a rumbling bottom end, and a batshit insane drummer who beats his snare drum bug-eyed while they compress all that's awesome about Teenage Shutdown (the best garage rock comp series ever, dork) into loud, foot-stomping, ass-shaking, sweat-pouring burst of electric white boy blues, and you gotcherself a band to make the boys drink and the girls cream, and vice versa. They supposedly have a CD coming out sometime in the next few months, and I sure hope to God they bottle all the excitement of their stage show. None of this reined-in, I-can-hear-vocals-over-the-guitars nonsense they have up on their MySpace. DC, get ready for the rebirth of maximum rock 'n' soul." - The Kids Are All Dead


"Everything DC Isn't"

The Hall Monitors [are] DC’s answer to, well, everything that DC isn’t. They pop. They inspire dancing. They jump around engagingly. They are really really good at what they do. - BrightestYoungThings.com


Discography

http://www.myspace.com/hallmonitors

Photos

Bio

Called DC's "Best Live Act" by The Washington Post, The Hall Monitors' first year together ended with a sonic boom. The band began the year by winning the Little Steven's Underground Garage Battle Of The Bands competition, earning them an opening slot on The New York Dolls tour. The Hall Monitors proceeded to self release their single Girls, which has since been played on over 30 radio stations across the US, including Sirius Satellite Radio, and on scores of podcasts and blogs across the globe. After an electrifying few months of gigging throughout the Northeast, including a stint as the backing band for Eddie Angel of Los Straitjackets, the band secured perhaps one of the most coveted rock and roll gigs in world: a slot on the "Cavestomp!" garage festival headlined by rock 'n roll legends The Sonics. To cap off an already incredible year, The Hall Monitors garnered a prestigious Wammie nomination for "Best New Artist" from the Washington Area Music Association.