The Vestals
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The Vestals

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Band Rock Pop

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

Music

Press


"CD Baby Staff Review"

"While some have compared their sound to echoes of XTC, Jellyfish, Superdrag, the Posies and others, the sum of their harmonic language, their all-encompassing rhythmic drive and the naked energy that fuels their songs has no parallel yet known to man.”
- CD Baby


"AllMusicGuide.com"

Minnesotans the Vestals bring an impressively vast array of influences to bear upon their eponymous debut of 2004, baffling any observer as to whether they may qualify as post-punk, post-alternative, post-new wave, or just plain post-everything! Led by eager-to-compete brothers Jeremy and Ben Gordon, the album generally alternates between two quite varied but still rather discernible strategies, and the fact that neither one is the exclusive specialty of any one brother is perhaps the most astonishing thing about them.
- AllMusicGuide.com


"Modern Drummer Dec 2004"

"The Vestals' Mario Garza plays his kit with the ease of a seasoned professional, even though this is the band's (self-titled) debut record. Each song is a pop/rock gem, which requires Garza to play into as well as with the sing-song melodies. Garza's kit sounds big without overpowering the vocals, and his fills are neatly tucked in between each verse and chorus."
- Modern Drummer


"Rollingstone.com"

"Speaking of harmonies, brothers Ben and Jeremy Gordon's voices are magnet and steel..." - Rollingstone.com


"David Bash, Amplifier Magazine"

Fans of The Grays (surely many Amplifier readers fit that profile) will absolutely love this Minneapolis combo, whose stock in trade are moody tunes filled with bright melodies, cool chord structures, perfectly timed tempo changes and seamless transitions. Songwriting brothers Jeremy and Ben Gordon could accurately be described as the Jon Brion and Jason Falkner of the Twin Cities, as Jeremy's songs tend to be the more down tempo and introspective of the bunch, while Ben's tunes are more often optimistic and immediately accessible. Standouts are the dark, swaying "Telescope," "Childhood Timeouts," marked by almost tribal-sounding drum beats, the maudlin, weepy "Before The Color Dries," "Too Late To Say Goodbye," which is kind of skewed, Beatlesque power pop and "Another Way to Kill Me," surely the catchiest tune on the disc. Virtually every song is a standout... if you like your music to put you in a blissful, pensive state of mind, definitely look no further than The Vestals.
- Amplifier Magazine


"Splendid Magazine"

“'Before the Color Dries' is the best combination of all The Vestals' assets. Propelled by the staccato strings of Eleanor Rigby's funerary quartet, and incorporating the album's most carefully wrought melody, the tune relies upon Jeremy Gordon's voice to fold us inside a series of chords, which wrap around themselves and lead into one another like staircases in an Escher painting.”
- Sarah Silver Splendid Magazine - Splendid Magazine


"St. Paul Pioneer Press, Brianna Riplinger"

“The Gordon brothers have a flair for writing accessible, poppy songs.”
- Brianna Riplinger, St. Paul Pioneer Press - St. Paul Pioneer Press


"Kate Silver, City Pages"

"The Vestals know their alt-pop lore like Gray knew anatomy. They know the Connells from the dB's from the Lemonheads; R.E.M. on I.R.S and XTC on the BBC. They know the Smiths presaged Brit pop, which presaged Radiohead, and that Van Dyke Parks isn't state-owned property... The band has polish, a Night Effects-like gleam that grins ear-to-ear between guitars, drum, and keyboards. Vocalist Jeremy Gordon knows his Thom Yorke. His voice is a glimmering, glottal wallop of cooed consonants."
-Kate Silver, City Pages - City Pages


"Star Tribune, Chris Riemenschneider"

“A promising new pop quartet, the Vestals, has a worthy buzz... the band has a modern Radiohead sonic edge but sticks to classic Beatles/Kinks harmonies.”
- Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune - Star Tribune


"Pulse of the Twin Cities"

"...Anchored by vocalists/guitarists/brothers in arms Ben and Jeremy Gordon, the Vestals' Beatles-y (both Gordon's were finalists in 2000's National John Lennon Songwriting Competition), vaguely psychedelic pop is sure to garner local acclaim quickly. Tracks like “Telescope” expertly balance smooth vocals and pop melodies with darker musical textures and dexterous guitar work."
- Nathan Dean, Pulse of the Twin Cities
- Pulse of the Twin Cities


Discography

Self-Titled LP received radio play on over 100 college stations nationwide.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

"Brotherly love and competition" could be considered the motto for this dreamy rock quartet. Raised in a musically nurturing household, brothers Ben and Jeremy Gordon developed their songwriting skills at ripe young ages. This soon became a catalytic source of competition and they feverishly developed their individual styles, but both were vindicated by separately making the finalist round at the 2000 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Together they’ve honed their skills, challenged each other, and mixed their different sounds through several projects over the years, finally cumulating in the formation of The Vestals in 2003. Jeremy and Ben soon perfected the line-up by adding Mario Garza on drums and Mark Weigel on bass.

To categorize their sound, one would have to jump musical ages and genres from the 1920’s all the way through today’s prominent singer-songwriters like Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright. Some artists can say that they are influenced by the Beatles or Elvis Costello, but with The Vestals you can actually hear their true essence in the foundation of the song structure and the brothers’ mesmerizing harmonies. Their sometimes dark lyrics are masked within a delicious pop framework that attaches to readily notable roots, but somehow never quite follows the often mundane catchy pop formula. Yet each one of their songs remains just that - a catchy pop tune. Although only their first label release, this album packs a full punch of memorable songs that will leave your player on “replay” and leave you humming the tunes long after they’ve stopped.

The Vestals have spent the first half of 2004 swooning the Minnesota music scene and beyond, winning over critics and fans alike. They celebrated a #14 ranking on the CMJ top 20 adds in April 2004. Soon thereafter, they debuted at #145 on the CMJ top 200 charts and have been played on over 150 stations nation-wide. With radio, television and festival appearances already under their belt, the remaining six months of 2004 will see The Vestals touring the U.S. with hopes of captivating crowds nationally as much as the Midwest.

Band Members