The Negatones

The electro-noise-rock collective has only just released its first full-length disc, a high-speed exploration of influences where the moog addicts prove equally comfortable crafting experimental indie-pop jams as recreating epic hair metal riffs. With layers of manic instrumentals giving their cheeky lines an added jolt, the Negatones tie up the loose wires of their varied influences, producing results that are positively electric. - http://www.spin.com/features/band_of_the_day/2005/12/051208_negatones/index.html

These Attitudinous garage-galm-punk wise guys dressed up in fake fur and funny hats and banged out fast songs. They were hilarious, tuneful, and exhilarating. - Robert Christgau, Music Editor

Brooklyn studio whizzes assemble a moog-slick ride through Rock History that's over in 30 minutes flat. - http://www.timeout.com/newyork/Details.do?page=1&xyurl=xyl://TONYWebArticles1/535/music/the_best_alb

• Who are the Negatones and why hadn't I heard of them until the moment I slipped on this explosive five-song EP? I demand an answer. A better question would be why this NYC-based quartet hasn't toppled the current rash of no-wave hipster bands with their finely-tweaked electro-noise-pop . The Negatones spread magnificently off-kilter jazz over seizure-inducing guitar and crackling distortion squeals like an aural bonfire gone utterly awry. These songs don't need their hand held either, each song of this five-song pie has its very own refreshingly independent vibe.
(April 2004) - Skratch Magazine

Let me say again what ought to be painfully obvious to clubgoers citywide: there's no aesthetic mileage left to squeeze out of the neo-garage movement, that car stalled on the highway sometime during 2001. Luckily, poised to crash to earth Skylab-style, the Negatones are battle-hardened and ready for whatever. If you, too are frustrated by the propensity of intelligent New York City musicians to talk down to their audiences, you'll join me in welcoming a little craft, density, and virtuosic good humor back to the Manhattan mainstage. Techno-rockers, spazzes, conceptualists, gaming-geeks and high ironists -- the future starts here. - www.trismccall.net

Wikipedia article on The Negatones:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negatones

Time Out New York 2-page feature:
http://www.timeout.com/newyork/Details.do?page=1&xyurl=xyl://TONYWebArticles1/528/features/chop_shop.xml

The Deli Cover Story:
http://www.thedelimagazine.com/negatones/index.htm - (links below)

On their second EP, the Negatones continue to play fast and tight. Smart, strange, and energetic, the Negatones have the sound of a band that has shaped its music and live performing. They may not be getting a bite from a big label, but they should.
4 Stars - http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:enhxlfaeacqp

Recalling equal parts Devo and CBGB's, art-pop and noise-punk, here is a band that can carry a party, have a good time, and still make interesting music that makes you think - and rock out.
Issue 67 (September 2004) - In Music We Trust Magazine

The Negatones are led by Jay Braun, whose musical history includes stints in Band of Susans and the Mooney Suzuki. It's not surprising, then, that Snacktronica is a little experimental and a lot rockin'. Too many bands confuse taking their music seriously with taking themselves seriously; these guys don't. This might be ear candy, but it's well-done ear candy.
Rounding out the band are Braun's brother Justin on bass, Jesse Wallace on drums and Jun Takeshta on guitars and additional fun things like vibraphone and Radio Shack Moog. Actually, all of the group's members get into the musical toy box sooner or later; the CD sleeve's equipment list reads like a gearhead's dream garage sale. The odder instruments are chief characteristics of the Negatones' sound, but they don't ever seem contrived (i.e. "we're esoteric and cool because we have a xylophone!"). There's an interesting mix of organic and electronic. The very brief "Conflict Error (part II of the Information Processing Trilogy)" consists of about two minutes of vibraphone laid over grinding guitars and rapid-fire, Amon Tobin-ish beats from both kit and hand drums. The juxtaposition of straight-up rock n' roll with what can only be called stoner grooves is also compelling, as tracks like the bleepily hallucinogenic "I Suspect There's More" are compared with "And So My Troubles Began", the disc's brassy, uptempo opener. None of these songs sound much like any of the others, and sometimes not even like the same band wrote them, but they're all tight, listenable and creative.
(April 2004)
- Splendid Magazine

Brooklyn's Negatones have been bouncing around the underbelly of the NY club scene for about as long as Mooney Suzuki (in fact, I met both bands on a double bill about 5 years ago.) But while the Mooneys' garage-rock seems to look to the past for inspiration, the Negatones bravely go where no spastic post-punk noise combo has gone before, though the songs here are more hysterical than heavy. The jagged but seamless two-part harmonies of siblings Jay and Justin Braun propel these gritty (yet still recognizably pop) tunes, with lumpy, swaggering bass lines, weird outer-space guitar solos, and frantic drum breakdowns. Llistening to this EP is like drinking a quart of Starbucks coffee with a methamphetamine chaser. You'll be a nervous wreck, but happy for the experience. - 20th Anniversary Issue