Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"Soulful rock and roll with a tinge of blues in the vein of early Stones, crossed with a more updated NY Dolls. Noel Harnden's vocals tip towards a style owed to the great attitude singers of the 70's such as, Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger and my personal fave, Stiv Bators. But don't take that as The Twelve sounding "retro" because they don't. Raw passion in the wild modern city." Chris David - SENTIMENTALIST MAGAZINE. CHRIS DAVID
"THE BLUES has always been the root that rock flowers from. But like a wild weed in the cotton fields, it’s sometimes inseparable from the plant that feeds it. Were the early Rolling Stones doing rock, or just another version of the blues? And was Muddy Waters a blues master or a rock ‘n roller? What about Stevie Ray Vaughn, or even the White Stripes for that matter? The field gets obscured with an eclectic mix of offshoots and overgrowths, but one thing is certain – stray too far from that basic twelve-bar blues pattern and the music stops being rock. It may remain pop music, and some may get off on whatever the hell it is that gets ‘em off, but at that point your mojo will definitely stop working.
Like their name suggests, the Twelve have remained true to the origins and structure of rock, yet they haven’t let themselves be restricted by it either and come out sounding as contemporary as any of the buzz bands out of Williamsburg. You could hear the inflections and phrasing of early British bluesrock wailers like Mick Jagger, Eric Burdon and even Van Morrison (circa Them) in the voice of Noel Harnden as he led the Twelve through a fiery set at the Luna Lounge. Harnden finds his own voice as well, adding a unique timbre and texture to familiar ground. And while John Bollinger and Tim Lane keep a strong groove on drums and bass respectively, guitarist Jason Clark uses the solid path of the rhythm section for some unexpected flights of fancy. With bends, screeches, pull-offs and feedback as well as straight ahead rhythms and runs, Clark coaxes a ton of feeling out of his tortured guitar. This band’s definitely got their mojo working.
Unbelievably, this is Noel Harnden’s first real band. Back in Manchester, England he jammed with his mates, but it wasn’t until he moved to New York and began writing songs with Clark that a vision of the Twelve was formed - finding something new to say within the boundaries of blues-based rock ‘n roll. They’ve succeeded as displayed on their latest ten-song release Blow Your Top! which is a follow-up to their five-track 5X12."
JEFF REY - NEONNYC.COM NYC'S PUNK & ROLL MAGAZINE
Discography
THE TWELVE - SELF TITLED EP
5x12 - EP
BLOW YOUR TOP - FULL LENGTH CD
THE TWELVE "THE DEMO" - NEW 3 SONG RELEASE:
These tracks hold true to our stripped down raw style, recorded live in the studio, only backing vocals and tamborine were overdubbed, in an attempt to capture the spirit of The Twelve live.
CHECK AUDIO SECTION FOR SAMPLES
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
New York is the immigrant Mecca of the modern world, drawing all kinds of people following all kinds of dreams.
From around the world and across the US, they come to tap the creative well and frenetic energy, that makes the Big Apple famous.
The Twelve are no exception, a mixed bag of three yanks and a limey, a mongrel band of sound bashing rockers, mining the best of what was and is rock and roll, they have found a common language that together they can communicate to the world.
The band came together thru� friends, fate and good fortune.
Noel Harnden found his way to NY from Manchester England, and was introduced to guitarist Jason Clark, from New Mexico, thru� a mutual friend. Blues and rock were the language that inspired them to get off their arses, and start a band. Drummer John Bollinger, from Eugene Oregon, was asked to join the band after Jay and Noel saw him back up a jazz trio, and Tim Lane, from Tarrytown New York, having seen The Twelve at an outdoor festival became the bass player to round out the bands bottom end.
Over the three years that they�ve been together, The Twelve have played all over New York, up and down the east coast, in dives, on streets, college campuses, pirate radio stations and cable access shows.
Trawling the underbelly of the New York scene, carving a loyal following along the way, The Twelve have always believed in the mantra that less is more. Dispensing with unnecessary trimmings, their stripped down sound is forged in the workshop of early blues and rock, raw, heated, down and dirty, their strength lies in their ability to draw in the crowd, engage them, and leave them satisfied. In an era of self adulation and little else, The Twelve have tried to create songs and develop a show designed to entertain the audience, not themsleves, the sound may be familiar, but it�s 100 per cent original. Their live show is an energetic party that has to be experienced to be fully appreciated, in the confusing, cookie cutter world of modern entertainment, The Twelve stand out through simplicity and a faith in music as the universal form of communication, but don�t take our word for it�.see �em live.
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