Music
Press
You can say what you want about MySpace. It’s a haven for cheesy, fake boobed chicks looking to expand their online customer base. Regular users experience error messages on a regular basis. But for music journalists, it’s a Godsend. With a simple click we can discover gems and also know what press kits we won’t be requesting.
In the case of The Still City, the immediate need for their new E.P. came about after 15 seconds of hearing “Pretty Little Words,” a track so drowning in hooks and passionate desperation, I had to have Brian Knab (vocals/guitar) hand deliver a copy of These Songs Are Walls in time for the Denver band’s CD release gig this Friday at hi-dive.
It’s obvious now why they chose the two tracks, “Squares on Squares” and “Pretty Little Words” to pull MySpace visitors in, as they are the leading songs on the E.P. that I expect will have a stronger impact on their live audience, causing them to gyrate and spill their beers.
The diamonds in the rough are found within the other facets of their musical repertoire. “The Cracks in the Pain and Pattern” and “All the Scratched Surfaces” ramble beautifully with a dusty road jangle, and the moonlight shines bright on a rainy night as Knab’s vocals and intricate poetry flows slowly on “A Comfortable Concept.”
Like a delectable French dinner, rich with palate pleasing treats but delivered in bite sized portions, after hearing the six tracks it all passed too soon and I had to hit repeat a few more times to get my fill. The songwriting, both musically and lyrically, is tighter than most bands venturing out on their first E.P., which almost puts a sophomoric pressure on the band when they release their full-length (which I hope happens sooner than later).
There’s never been a better time to get into local music, and The Still City is definitely running with the cream of the crop.
- Kaffeinebuzz.om
Why does anyone play music? To feel better, to feel worse, to feel something? There are no answers, no reasonable explanations, but foolish people, beyond their better judgment, keep falling for that rock-and-roll devil anyway. Which, for the rest of us spectators, is great, because we need those breathless impulses of song just as badly in order to validate our own insecurities and triumphs. That's the aesthetic of music -- and the charm of an act like the Still City. On its debut EP, the self-recorded and self-released These Songs Are Walls, the band sweats out desperate youthful energy in six electrically exalted songs. In this City, life is a bit detached, emotions are frustrated, and the bright lights are fluorescent halos. These Songs is a Weakerthans-meets-the-North-Atlantic art-rock retrogression that is both daringly immature and fully admirable. Welcome to the City. - The Denver Westword
You can say what you want about MySpace. It’s a haven for cheesy, fake boobed chicks looking to expand their online customer base. Regular users experience error messages on a regular basis. But for music journalists, it’s a Godsend. With a simple click we can discover gems and also know what press kits we won’t be requesting.
In the case of The Still City, the immediate need for their new E.P. came about after 15 seconds of hearing “Pretty Little Words,” a track so drowning in hooks and passionate desperation, I had to have Brian Knab (vocals/guitar) hand deliver a copy of These Songs Are Walls in time for the Denver band’s CD release gig this Friday at hi-dive.
It’s obvious now why they chose the two tracks, “Squares on Squares” and “Pretty Little Words” to pull MySpace visitors in, as they are the leading songs on the E.P. that I expect will have a stronger impact on their live audience, causing them to gyrate and spill their beers.
The diamonds in the rough are found within the other facets of their musical repertoire. “The Cracks in the Pain and Pattern” and “All the Scratched Surfaces” ramble beautifully with a dusty road jangle, and the moonlight shines bright on a rainy night as Knab’s vocals and intricate poetry flows slowly on “A Comfortable Concept.”
Like a delectable French dinner, rich with palate pleasing treats but delivered in bite sized portions, after hearing the six tracks it all passed too soon and I had to hit repeat a few more times to get my fill. The songwriting, both musically and lyrically, is tighter than most bands venturing out on their first E.P., which almost puts a sophomoric pressure on the band when they release their full-length (which I hope happens sooner than later).
There’s never been a better time to get into local music, and The Still City is definitely running with the cream of the crop.
- Kaffeinebuzz.om
"singer-guitarist Brian Knab has a true gift for turning a phrase until it corkscrews your heart"
- The Onion
- The Onion
"singer-guitarist Brian Knab has a true gift for turning a phrase until it corkscrews your heart"
- The Onion
- The Onion
Discography
"These Songs Are Walls" - EP, Self Released 2007
"Light and the Machines" - EP, Self Released 2008
Photos
Bio
"...singer/guitarist, Brian Knab, has a true gift for turning a phrase until it corkscrews your heart..."
--Jason Heller, The Onion A/V Club
"...there's never been a better time to get into local music, and The Still City is definitely running with the cream of the crop..."
--Kim Owens, Kaffeinebuzz
"...a Weakerthans-meets-the-North-Atlantic art-rock retrogression that is both daringly immature and fully admirable..."
--Tuyet Nguyen, The Denver Westword
The Still City began in a basement apartment that smelled constantly of Ramen noodles and mold. With a duct taped Epiphone Les Paul, an electric drum set constructed circa 1989, and two sets of headphones, we played to the cart pushers who wandered our neighborhood, the nympho who lived above us, and the large quantities of ants that swarmed in the corners of our rooms.
Before that there was the small town of Monument, Colorado. There was the shitty high school where we met. There was a collective failing out of college, a random telephone call and the coincidences that landed us in that basement apartment.
Since, we've moved our operations into a tool shed, and have fallen for the dingy clubs of Denver.
We're going to tour. We're going to play a lot more shows in this city. You should come.
Links
