The Working Title

The Working Title: the Knitting Factory, Hollywood, CA 7.18.07

Yes, I am taking the opportunity to review not one, but TWO bands from Wednesday night’s show at the Knitting Factory! Headliners, The Working Title brought their great alternative rock sound from South Carolina back to Southern California for their first show back in over a year.

The Working Title is one of those bands lucky enough to catch the eye of a major label and get signed before spending a couple years on an independent label. But, major label backing is not as illustrious as it seems, as these road warriors are still building their band reputation and their following. Practically unknown in these parts, The Working Title are very well known in and around their home state of South Carolina. The band has definitely has the chops to build a bigger following in the left coast, especially after one of their songs was used in the MTV series Laguna Beach.

Their sound varies from dance-rock, to alternative radio friendly rock, and acoustic and piano driven rock. Songs off their major label release About Face like “Glorious” and “About Face” will get your head swaying. “Under the Ground”, an slower acoustic driven track will get the cellphones up and swinging with fans singing along. And songs like “The Crash” and “Blind”, lead singer Joel Hamilton sings with such emotion and passion that it feels like he’s practically speaking out to the crowd.

Original members of the band, drummer Ross Taylor, lead guitarist Adam Pavao, and lead singer Joel Hamilton bring the core of what the band is all about, their music, life, and times. Pavao riffs are almost dreamy in nature for many of these songs, a perfect combination with Taylor’s beats. Newer members basist Chris Gingrich and guitarist Matt Podesla complete the sound with their contributions. Gingrich helps with much of the background vocals. A unique moment during the show was when Podesla played what appeared to be a red toy flute during one of their songs.

Lead singer Joel Hamilton really stood out on this night, whether he meant to or not. He reminded me a lot of Adam Lazzara in the beginning of Taking Back Sunday. He was gave off a very erratic and unpredictable vibe, intriguing the audience by hugging his guitar, thrashing a tambourine into a drum cymbal and throwing it up in the air, then later pulling out his keys and jingling them in place of the tambourine. He carried on brief talks with the crowd, especially after the sustain peddle on his keyboard broke, forcing them to skip a song and later telling a story about their water bottles and jaw jacking with some members of Days Away who were watching from the floor. Antics aside, just like a passionate and artistic front man like Lazzara, Hamilton’s emotions while singing songs are so heartfelt, that you can really see how much the songs mean to him.

It is a shame there weren’t more people who came out to see this band, as The Working Title put on a great show with the mix of their wonderful music, interesting selection of instruments, and an almost enigmatic front man that will pique your interest to know what this band is all about.

Hopefully, The Working Title makes their way back soon.

http://billboard.blogs.com/mobile_beat/2007/07/the-working-tit.html - Billboard

The Working Title: About Face

By Dave Atkinson
Official Site

About Face, the debut album from South Carolina outfit, The Working Title, is a true testament to the band’s enormous artistic talent. Consisting of Joel Hamilton (lead vocals, and the man responsible for the album’s striking lyrics), Adam Pavao (six and 12-string guitars), Chris Ginn (bass) and Ross Taylor (drums and percussion), the band was formed in 2001. ). Three of the four members attended the same high school, and the boys quickly recognized their shared musical appreciation and talent.

Not only is this a truly brilliant album (particularly for a debut offering), About Face provides a timely lesson for music enthusiasts everywhere. When tasked with this review, I must admit to forming a number of completely unfounded (and inaccurate) opinions about the band. Convinced the group was ‘just another’ alternative rock band like all the others, and that their lyrical and vocal abilities could not sustain my interest for the full 9mins and 20secs of “Turbulence,” let alone the entire album, I felt certain I would be less than impressed with the reviewing experience. Oh, how very, very wrong I was…

I have seen the error of my ways, and must now repent for my sins by ensuring that no others fall victim to the curse of pre-conception.

Lesson #1: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

While sharing some similarities with other bands of their genre (particularly in terms of song construction), The Working Title is certainly not just another band. Combining their numerous musical influences, which include everyone from Counting Crows to Kid Dynamite, the band’s first full-length offering is compelling to listen to. While most tracks on the album follow a similar basic construction model, the formula is a successful one. Complimenting understated verses with hard-hitting choruses and infectious guitar work, all the tracks allow the impressive talents of vocalist Joel Hamilton to be properly showcased.

Lesson #2: Falsetto does not represent the end of music as we know it.

The combination of Hamilton’s lyrical and vocal talent, above all else, sets The Working Title apart. Adopting the attitude that, “Great songs are like mirrors. If they're worth listening to, they show us something about ourselves.” About Face takes the listener along on an emotive journey of self-discovery. Powerful chorus vocals and an ability to hit the ‘Big Note’ compliment the earthy tones of the guitars well, without ever allowing one to dominate the other. The effect is an intoxicating, emotion-driven sound.

Much of this rests on the vocal delivery, which (with the exception of the unnecessary use of falsetto in two places in "Something She Said”) is flawlessly executed. The control Hamilton displays at both ends of the vocal range is truly incredible, successfully translating the lyrical messages into an emotionally charged sound. Even with his range naturally extending to the upper register, there are times where Hamilton is forced to resort to falsetto. This shift is successfully managed, with minor exceptions, across the entire album. It provides a smooth, natural vocal transition (something sadly lacking in the vocal dichotomies that the use of falsetto normally produces).

Lesson #3: Once is never enough.

True appreciation of this album does not come with a single listening. Indeed, the richness of the sound and the skill with which the vocals are delivered makes this album a veritable treasure trove. Every listening will afford a different emotional experience, and allow a new musical gem to be uncovered. This is the way albums should be.

"Under the Ground” and “Something She Said” are my favourite tracks from the album. With soaring choruses on both tracks, the listener is emersed in the music. There are so many emotionally provocative tracks, making this music to lose yourself to. It’s not just about the sound - it’s about the experience!

"Turbulence” stretches well beyond the normal track length, clocking in at almost nine and a half minutes. Despite it’s length; however, the track builds beautifully. The song successfully engages the audience for such an extended period, and that is quite an achievement.

With a much more energetic verse, “Glorious” is particularly evocative. Its catchy beat and clever arrangement draw the audience in, while Hamilton’s characteristically brilliant lyrics again demand attention.

"PS”, while excellent in its own right, is worth listening to just for the beautiful harmonies at the end of the track.

Lesson #4: Try it for yourself!

The Working Title have put their creative expertise to the test and produced a truly accomplished musical package. With such a proficient first offering, one cannot help being excited about the future of this imposing foursome. Even if you are only going to buy a few more CDs this year, this album demands to be on the shortlist! Buy yourself a copy, immerse yourself i - Aced Magazine

Were I a believer in reincarnation, and if 80s hair bands were capable of such a spiritual re-emergence, The Working Title might very well be their collective persona reborn. While no one might mistake them for Skid Row, Tesla or Bon Jovi, beneath the surface lies the very same essence that made those bands what they were – driving and steady guitar, a penchant for flair (albeit predictable) and a lead singer that wails dramatically to punctuate it all.

Not that it’s a bad thing. The 80s have enjoyed their much-deserved revival; as much for the built-in likeability and catchiness of the music as for any nostalgia. And The Working Title offers improvements that are unmistakably contemporary. For example, you probably never heard a coiffed 80s band sing a song called “Thoughts on Love’s Mishaps”, and they definitely wouldn’t have imbued it with lyrics such as “When everyone is listening reasons jump into the glass that breaks”. At the same time, though, they would’ve made sure the chords were consistent and grittily agreeable, and they might even have had a balladic, echoing and thoroughly sappy bridge like “Set a course, to see your face… Oh Northern Star!” as The Working Title did in “Mishaps”. The band seems to work their songs out on a give-and-take premise: the catchiness balances out the cheesiness.

The band has definitely wasted no time getting into the mix on the music scene. The members are all tykes and tyros--with members ranging in age from 19 to 22--but they don’t come across that way. They’ve emerged from their teen years with some level of maturity, while at the same time not appearing like they have it all figured out. There is talent here, and hope for growth beyond what Everyone Here is Wrong offers.
The first couple times I listened to it, I didn’t give this disc much credit. I thought it had basically been done before, and that this iteration of it didn’t merit anything more than a passing interest. Then, unexpectedly and creepily, I found several of its refrains bubbling up in my mind, and before I knew it I was singing under my breath. Songs like the aforementioned “Mishaps” and “The Mary Getaway” had a way of making their way into my shuffling cerebral jukebox against all better judgment.

In short, Everyone Here is Wrong didn’t really make me want to tell all my friends about it. It was more of a guilty pleasure—like watching a campy TV show when no one else is around. It’s a cheeseburger that you have once a month while eating healthy the rest of the time—enjoyable, but not something you’d want to have everyday. And it gives you the chance to hear an up-and-coming young band with just a tinge of the hair spray past.
- Glide Magazine

Interview: Band Of The Week - The Working Title
Written by A.L. Harper
Published May 12, 2007
Part of Band of the Week

The first time I heard The Working Title’s debut album About Face I was theirs, forever. What was it that got me? The Working Title are the whole package complete with textured guitar melodies, powerful, emotive lyrics and sensual, soul-stirring vocals, and the effect on me is like turning on a tap between my thighs. Joel Hamilton’s raw, earthy vocals will find your inner erotic being too, and hold you in its ardent, intense embrace for the whole album.

The Working Title’s brand of music fits somewhere between pop, alt.rock and indie rock with a unique blend of U2, Switchfoot and Foo Fighters. Their often driving, sometimes tender, always naked sound is best appreciated by putting About Face on repeat, lying on your bed in the pitch-dark, in nothing but your underwear, and letting it wash over you. You’ll be consumed by it. I was and still am. I even made it my number two album of the year.

When I first reviewed About Face a year ago I tried to score an interview with this incredible band; no luck though, as then label Universal Records, weren’t letting me anywhere near them. Now, after an amicable split with the label, The Working Title are unsigned and therefore qualify for the Band of the Week.

I recently spent some time chatting with frontman and lyrist Joel Hamilton. This South Carolina native, has spent the majority of his time since 2001 – when The Working Title first formed – touring, learning and perfecting his craft. Soft spoken, intelligent, with a charming southern politeness and natural reserve, he was deeply shy to start off with. But all Joel needed was some time to relax. Eventually we chatted about Dr Who – he had never heard of Dr Who, the freak – The Working Title’s split with Universal Records, touring and, most importantly About Face.

So Joel do you want to talk about the split with Universal?

Yeah. I’ll give you a little history on that. We were signed to Universal for about three and a half years. We had been a band for like – I’m really bad with time-lines so I’m just gonna’ wing it (laughs)-- maybe eight months or somethin’. We did a record on our own, we had it engineered.

Is this your first EP, Everyone Here Is Wrong?

This was before the EP. I decided to go even further back in time.

Wow, how old were you?

I was… This was probably like seven years ago. I was probably… I was… Hello, I can do math! (laughs) I was what 17, 16? I think I was 17; I’m really bad with time-lines. (laughing) Around that time we recorded a record, sold it around town, did some touring. And like a year or two later we met this guy in Charleston who hooked us up with this guy in Atlanta. We did some demos. Johnny had a couple of people in the music industry he gave out a few of those demos – it was like a four song demo that we did – he gave them out to a couple of friends in the industry and two days later we had every label we have ever heard of trying to fly us out to do showcases and whatnot.

That must have been incredibly flattering.

Yeah it was. It was definitely unexpected. We definitely handled it the best we could and were as levelheaded as we could have been. We basically told every label that we were not going to fly out to any showcases. We had a lot of friends in bands, and I’d heard stories, a lot of people saying how terrible showcases are. We just imagined ourselves playing in front of like ten people in business suits and how ridiculous that would have been. And we decided weren’t going to do that. We weren’t really chasing a record deal anyway.

We were just like, “if you really want to see us play, we’re playing in Charleston.” So the next time we played in Charleston we had twenty different people from ten different labels kind of a thing. At the show everyone come up and saw us, it was a sold-out show.

I just can’t believe how long it’s been. As I’m saying this… it’s just really crazy.

So tell me more about Universal.

Universal ended up coming in kind of late in the game. We had some offers on the table, we weren’t really looking to sign a record deal but it didn’t really make much sense to pass it up because we were getting everything we wanted out of it. And so we ended signing with universal. And we were like “hey, we’re really young we know that, we want to spend a couple of years on the road and we want to release an EP.”

So from those demos that we did, we did a few more with the same guy. We ended up putting out that EP, Everyone Here Is Wrong. We put that out after landing at Universal. We put it out on Redemption Records though. We wanted it to be kind of a low-key thing. We wanted to stay under the radar for a little bit and do touring and basically not blow up faster than we needed to, before we were actually ready, before my songwriting was ready. We put out that EP, we toured a lot, we toured for - Blog Critics Magazine

The Working Title
About Face

[Universal]

“Singing the old song in stereo…”

-The Working Title

To open, there is nothing better than the aforementioned lyric that can be said to sum up what is to be found on The Working Title’s About-Face. It all sounds somehow familiar, only better. Personally calling influences from the Counting Crows to Kid Dynamite, this is one of the most accessible alternative rock records to be released in quite a while. It feels extremely comfortable, though experimental. If I desperately had to force a comparison, I would stand The Working Title loosely around Palo Alto, or the popular under-the radar groups Copeland or Mae. This album even comes with the undertone of pop sensibilities that have developed in this Killers-filled, Fall Out Boy ruled realm of popular music; but I promise you that it’s far, far better than the aforementioned (which is saying a lot; as I’m quite a Killers fan, myself). These boys know how to write a catchy, good, deep rock song; and they stay solid all the way though to the end.



The album About-Face most definitely finds the working-class band The Working Title finally ready to be heard by the masses. After all this album is, technically, their third release; following the independently released Sincerely, and the 2003 EP Everyone Here Is Wrong. This record marks their first full-length on a major label, coming out on the Universal branch Cause For Alarm.

A couple of songs are carryover highlights from the Everyone Here Is Wrong EP, but clocking in at 14 tracks, you still get more than enough new material here. Upon repeated listens, you can hear the influence of the Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz on the lyrics of front man Joel Hamilton. To make a strange stab at a parallel: if the Counting Crows came to be in today’s realm of dance-alt-rock-pop, they would probably sound something like The Working Title. And in case you’re wondering, yes, that is a really weird compliment.

All of the songs are catchy rock-fare, and highlights include the title track, “Under the Ground,” EP carryover “”The Mary Getaway (I Lost Everything),” and “Glorious.” And, I’m happy to note that there isn’t a weak song to be found throughout, with the album opening strong and staying great all of the way through to the end. It’s rare and almost impossible these days, to find an album you could say that about. The Working Title is most definitely working toward something great here. I recommend you check it out.

Reviewed by

Trent Moore

May 1st, 2006 - SoundtheSirens

Hey, This Is Awesome!
New Video from the Working Title

July 25, 2006

This South Carolina quarted added big-time hooks to their anthems and a big-budget video to their repertoire with "The Mary Getaway (I Lost Everything)."

The Working Title

Charleston, South Carolina-based the Working Title have released the video for "The Mary Getaway (I Lost Everything)" off their major-label debut, About-Face, and it traverses a nightmarish cinematic landscape. The clip is as tightly-knit as the song (in which this anthemic alt-pop quartet sandwich crunchy breakdowns in between big choruses), as it follows a seemingly angelic heroine who is revealed to be a bit of a hell-raiser. Appropriately, the video's final scenes are cast in shades of red.

Now Watch This:
The Working Title - "The Mary Getaway (I Lost Everything)"

Talk: What do you think of the video for "The Mary Getaway (I Lost Everything)"?
On the Web: theworkingtitle.com
- Spin Magazine