The Upsidedown
Portland, Oregon, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
UPSIDEDOWN: The Town With Bad Wiring
Sep 29, 2010
By Friederike Herr
The Town With Bad Wiring proves be a metaphorical mesh of electronics and nature. On its third full-length, the Portland, Oregon-based sextet the Upsidedown creates an atmosphere that calls to mind a late '80s/early '90s Jesus And Mary Chain, a band for whom the band has opened. For instance, ''La Paloma'' pushes forward with Manchester Beat-style drum patterns, airy background 'whoo's, softly shredding chords and a pulsating bass. Nearly all 12 tracks on the collection sprawl beyond the five-minute mark, but though they are long, the epic tracks, especially the sullen, string-carried "Spiders," definitely earn their length.
Taking reverb, fuzz and blues a few steps outside the well-trodden path of shoegaze and alternative pop, the Upsidedown forges its own course. Traces of the influence of earlier days of American indie and they '90s heyday of college radio can be found both in the band's sound and in its album's list of guest contributors. REM's Peter Buck laid down additional guitar tracks on both opening hymn "Something Good" and "Wounded Knee," the Dandy Warhol's Peter Holmstrom also guests, and Brian Jonestown Massacre's Collin Hegna engineered the whole album.
This two drumset-driven journey, which is led by singer/guitarist Jsun Adams' ranting-to-whispered vocals, explores the voids and breakdowns of interpersonal communication. Outros and intros are carpeted by layers of field-recorded bugsounds and crackling electricity, as on the closing track "Katydid," illustrating the beautiful discrepancies between our highly technologized and wired urban environments and whatever remains to be called nature.
Track Listing For The Town With Bad Wiring:
01. Something Good
02. Your Sisters Cool
03. La Paloma
04. Town With Bad Wiring
05. God's Bare Hands
06. Wounded Knee
07. Hang On
08. Whiskey Boots Of Snake
09. Spiders
10. Indio Bernice
11. Night Kissed
12. Katydid
www.theupsidedown.com - cmj.com
Portland, Oregon-based psych-rock six-piece the Upsidedown has been hard at work on its third full-length, The Town With Bad Wiring, which is due out on September 28. The album, which features 12 new tracks, finds the band working alongside such heavy-hitters as R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Brian Jonestown Massacre's Collin Hegna and the Dandy Warhols' Peter Holmstrom. The Warhols' engineer, Jeremy Sherrer, also made some contributions.
The forthcoming album's song "Wolf Blood Honey" has been featured on the current season of HBO's True Blood—unsurprising given the recent season’s werewolf storylines. The song has also been on five other primetime television shows.
Track Listing For The Town With Bad Wiring:
01. Something Good
02. Your Sisters Cool
03. La Paloma
04. Town With Bad Wiring
05. God's Bare Hands
06. Wounded Knee
07. Hang On
08. Whiskey Boots Of Snake
09. Spiders
10. Indio Bernice
11. Night Kissed
12. Katydid - CMJ
The Upsidedown are about to turn rock 'n' roll on its head-again. The Portland six-piece will drop its third album, 'The Town With Bad Wiring', via Reverb Records on September 28th, 2010. The Upsidedown stir up propulsive psychedelic pop over the course of the record's twelve tracks. First single "Something Good" will hit radio in early September, and it paves the path to 'Town'. Blending a danceable groove with seductively hypnotic crooning, "Something Good" is a trippy little ditty that's instantly infectious. Right now, the band is in the midst of making the video for "Something Good." It promises to give a unique look at their native Portland through the lens of video directors Cairey Haider and Justin Adams.
The Upsidedown didn't build this sonic city alone, they attracted the help of numerous high-profile tastemakers. REM's Peter Buck drops by for a guest spot, and Brian Jonestown Massacre's Collin Hegna and the Dandy Warhol's Pete Holmstrom also make appearances. However, the band hasn't just been resonating with the indie elite; they've effectively seeped deep into the collective zeitgeist through high-profile song placements on both HBO's True Blood and FX's Sons of Anarchy. "Wolf Blood Honey," a wolfed-up version of Town's "La Paloma," was featured on True Blood's July 11th episode, while "If You Are Hell Girl" fueled an episode of Sons of Anarchy. You've also heard them on Vampire Diaries and Damages.
Numerous tour dates precede the album's release, and the band will no doubt be showering crowds with a little preview of 'Town'. They've dazzled audiences alongside The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Black Angels, The Psychedelic Furs, Dead Meadow and many more.
Once you visit 'The Town With Bad Wiring', you won't want to leave. - Pure Grain Audio
‘BAND TO WATCH’... “There’s a whole lotta tambourine shakin’ going on, but the real mover on this debut is the shoegazing vortex that sucks you in and never lets go. Woozy male/female vocals creep through a silver haze of whirring feedback, toxic-sludge guitars and tap-happy cymbals. The acid smeared daydream lasts only 56 minutes, but the hangover rings in your head for days.” - Magnet
“The Upsidedown plays dirty, glammed-up, drugged-down guitar rock with a dark heart. Their brand of ambient rock carries forth in a grand tradition: carefully constructed Dandies drone, pop hooks and devil-may-care-decadence.” - Willamette Weekly
“There’s a pop (and sometimes Punk) sensibility that runs through’em all… We really like what we hear on Trust Electricity, the Upsidedown’s debut CD, which is dreamy and decadent in all the right places.” - The Boston Globe
“A diligent band that’s been around the Portland block, The Upsidedown paid their dues, and are now finally getting pay back: they’ve been reviewed in Magnet as a “Band to watch,” and have been receiving considerable acclaim for their debut, Trust Electricity. They play out often and it shows, their well-crafted and undeniably catchy psychedelic rock is powerfully perfected. Let’s relish the last moments of this band’s locality before they are stolen from us.” - The Portland Mercury
“After listening to their latest album, Trust Electricity (2004 Reverb), I’ve decided it’s pretty darn good stuff. It reminds me of Echo and the Bunnymen and Love and rockets’ heyday, but adds the drone of The Dandy Warhols and BRMC, and it’s about as good as any of this type of thing being released these days.” - Tucson Weekly
“The Upsidedown create neo-psychedelic rock with all the hazy swirl and tambourines one would expect… Trust Electricity carries layers of sonic fog and grit, cut by the vocals of Jsun Atoms, Tristan Evans and Matt Moore. The sound is textured, the performances polished.” - The Oregonian
Discography
The Town with Bad Wiring
Full-Length studio album
Reverb Records - 2010
Human Destination
Full-Length studio album
Beat The World Records - 2008
Trust Electricity
Full-length studio album
Reverb Records - 2004
Photos
Bio
THE UPSIDEDOWN is an American rock band based in Portland, Oregon. Comparisons to The Jesus and Mary Chain, Echo and The Bunnymen, and Love and Rockets reflect on the band's influences, but The Upsidedown's sound is something all their own. Music from The Upsidedown seems to be a product of their Pacific Northwest environment… dark, atmospheric, moody and romantic with the occassional volcanic explosions.
Formed in 2003 from the remnants of local shoegazer cult favorites The Bella Low, the group released its debut LP, “Trust Electricity” on Reverb Records in 2004. The record turned some critical ears in the industry. MAGNET featured them in the current “Band to Watch” article, and The Boston Globe described their music as - “dreamy and decadent in all the right places". The six-piece soon began making a name for itself in the Northwest, and the press continued to take notice: “The Upsidedown create a psychedelic sound with all the hazy swirl and tambourines one would expect...and carries layers of sonic fog and grit. The sound is textured, and the performances polished.” - The Oregonian . “The Upsidedown is a diligent band that's been around the Portland block and paid their dues. Let's relish the last moments of this band's locality before they are stolen from us" - The Portland Mercury
The Upsidedown's second full-length studio album, “Human Destination”, recorded at The Dandy Warhols' Odditorium, was released on the Warhols' new label, Beat The World Records in 2008. The Odditorium provided The Upsidedown an environment conducive to making a complete, fully engaged record, playful and smart, and as energetic as their celebrated live shows. The musical landscape is as vast as it is familiar and warm. Several tracks from “Human Destination” were featured on the NBC TV series "Trauma", and the FX series' "Sons Of Anarchy" and "Greek" in 2009. Again in 2010 their music garnered more television placements including the popular HBO series “True Blood” and FOX CW's series' “The Vampire Diaries” and “Life Unexpected”
The Upsidedown's third full-length studio album, “The Town with Bad Wiring” will be released on the Reverb Records label September 28, 2010. The new album features a heavy hitter list of friends including the likes of R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, The Brian Jonestown Massacre's Colin Hegna (who also did the majority of engineering), and The Dandy Warhol's Peter Holmstrom. The 12 individual tracks on the record are without doubt the most provocative, psychedelic, sexy, rock songs The Upsidedown has recorded...so far.
Part of the closely-knit Portland music community, The Upsidedown have performed with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Raveonettes, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Richard Butler, The Duke Spirit, The Black Angels, Colin Meloy, The Dears, and The Walkmen. In the fall of 2008 they joined label mates The Dandy Warhols on their coast to coast North American tour.
In 2009, Jason Anchondo from Los Angeles joined the band (percussion/keys, formerly in The Warlocks, and Spindrift), completing the current line-up
Links
