The Quiet Ones
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The Quiet Ones

Seattle, Washington, United States | INDIE

Seattle, Washington, United States | INDIE
Band Rock Pop

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

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"The Quiet Ones"

Youtubing the Quiet Ones will bring you to several videos of the Totten brothers – John, David and Chris – and drummer Baine Craft doing some funky dancing in their kitchen, jamming on keyboards, and blithely performing a New Pornographers cover. The videos are buoyant, charming and sure to make you feel like life is all right – just like their music. A cross-country collective, the Quiet Ones’ current lineup now includes the Tottens, Craft, and producer Mason Neely, who resides in Boston and sent and received tracks by mail during the recording of the band’s superior 2006 EP, Nite You Surprised Me, and their latest album, Better Walk than Ride Like That. The record continues in the Quiet Ones’ vein of delightfully sunny indie pop, layering rattling percussion, swelling background harmonies, lively guitar lines and puckish lyrics – all harkening back to the early 90s lo-fi sound of Pavement and Guided By Voices. With Kinski, Marty Marquis (Blitzen Trapper) - Seattle Weekly


"The Quiet Ones: Brothers Make An Album"

Seattle's the Quiet Ones have three brothers from Tennessee in the band. The Tottens: John, David, and Chris. Being brothers, they argue and curse at each other. But they also write and play some of the finest songs an ear can hear. Solos and melody rip and make love to an indie rock sound. They have a new album coming out called Better Walk Than Ride Like That. They recorded it themselves, mixed and mastered it themselves, and are releasing it on their own label In Advance Records.

Album release: June 18th at the Crocodile with Marty Marquis (Blitzen Trapper) and Kinski. - The Stranger


"Up & Coming"

"It's difficult, nay, impossible not to think that some of the Quiet Ones' songs are really long lost and unpolished first takes from Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot recording sessions—gems that were maybe beloved by Jeff Tweedy, but with their slightly noisier spine didn't completely fit in with the gentle flow of the highly revered record. Singer John Totten carefully delivers his words with the same mix of worn-down heartbreak and singing-will-save-me optimism that one can hear in Tweedy's voice, and their bright and slightly distorted indie rock by way of catchy pop sounds like it was created with as much care as any months-long visit in the studio, but the punk rock side of them won out in the end, causing them to bare their hearts in the less-than-perfect basement instead." - The Stranger


"Tonight in Music"

The Quiet Ones—three brothers, two of whom are twins, and one friend—are my sleeper hit of the summer. They released Better Walk Than Ride Like That last year, and I remember thinking (and writing) at the time that it was a fine record with obvious nods to Wilco. But "fine" doesn't usually stick, and away they went into the "soon to be forgotten" pile. But after being reintroduced to them weeks ago, on a hot, sunny afternoon, everything clicked into place—their bright Beatles-esque harmonies, their fun guitar riffs, their playful drumming. Their songs are delightful and imperfect packages of pop, and I want to spend the rest of the summer doing nothing but going on picnics while listening to them. - The Stranger


Discography

Your Inner Ear Vol. I (2004)
Your Inner Ear Vol. II (2004)
Nite You Surprised Me EP ( 2006)
Sound of Fog 7" (2008)
Better Walk Than Ride Like That (2009)

Photos

Bio

John Totten began the Quiet Ones as a home recording project in 2002 between his best friends and his two brothers, David and Chris. After two lo-fi records of sunny pop ranging from country to Pavement-esque ramshackle (Your Inner Ear Vols. I and II) the brothers decided to move to the Pacific Northwest. Along their travels they began the recording of an EP, entitled Nite You Surprised Me. This EP was much more produced. Although still recorded in bedrooms and basements, it displays a vast orchestration, drawing on European influences such as Stereolab and Serge Gainsbourg.

Their travels landed them in Seattle, where they began working on their next full length, Better Walk Than Ride Like That. Seatte's The Stranger compared the Quiet Ones to Wilco if Wilco recorded in a "less-than-perfect basement." Better Walk, which was titled in a postcard John received from The Silver Jews' David Berman sounds the most broad of any Quiet Ones record. From the poppy beginnings to the psychadelic middle to the kraut influenced end, Better Walk, which The Stranger labeled "the sleeper hit of the summer" is the longest and most ambitious record they have recorded to date. When the record came out in summer of 2009, the Quiet Ones toured with Blitzen Trapper. They also shared the stage with Fleet Foxes, Two Gallants, the French Kicks, Elf Power, and others.

As of 2010, the Quiet Ones are recording their next full length which they say is the weirdest record yet. As of now, untitled, the record finds the Quiet Ones delving deeper into disparate influences simultaneously, specifically, krautrock and americana.