There might be a masochist in me. I say that because there is part of me that likes to swim in sadness. This is not to say that "Fool" by the artful, amazing Battle Ave is deathly sad, it is not but it is deceptively melancholy. It might be Jesse Doherty's vocal aesthetic that feels so inward, self punching and shrinking. Even the lofi- sort of casio samba beat and patterned lead guitar ascensions can't push this fully into the sunshine on some sparkly beach. The dissonant drones and somber imagery, "I curl up tangled like a silver wire / but if you’ll say you will, say you will / and i got nothing holding me / see me in the dream / i am a fool", feel heartbreaking, slowly pulling me down. Don't get me wrong I fucking love this but I am finding out that Battle Ave can affect me like 3 out of 10 Radiohead songs.
"Fool", for me, expresses the crushing heartbreak of youth that you come to find out has nothing to do with being young at all, it is something you feel at anytime in your life, it is life. The circular sounds, melancholy melodies and dissonant fog bumping on the wobbly lo-fi machine beat made somehow think of an uncanny intersex breeding of Surf Curse, Beach House, The Cure, Sparklehorse, Burt Bacharach and the one that got away.
"you put the poison in the apple tree"
Battle Ave's "Fool" featuring Emma Tringali on vocals is from "I Saw The Egg" out on Friend Club Records & Totally Real Records Preorder: https://battleave.bandcamp.com
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/battleaveband
https://twitter.com/battleaveband
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1BYFXfxBrNpwFXsvvExRW7
https://battleave.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/battle_ave/
https://soundcloud.com/battleaveny
In the six years since Battle Ave’s last release, Year of Nod, the Hudson-Valley based band have navigated fatherhood, graduate school, new members, and the cancer diagnosis of drummer Samantha Niss . Now, they’re ready for a reintroduction. Originally formed in 2009 by Niss and guitarist/vocalist Jesse Doherty, the group connected over their love of ambient arrangements, orchestral epics, and the ramshackle indie-rock of the early 90’s. Armed with more experience than ever before, their new self-titled EP expertly stitches together these influences through an intuitive shared language. It’s the kind of creative collaboration that can only exist through sustained friendship and trust.
Battle Ave was largely recorded and arranged remotely, with Doherty describing it as “like a game of Exquisite Corpse… the band mostly cobbled their parts together without knowing what anyone else was going to do.” This resulted in the EP’s dense melodic haze. On opener “My Year With The Wizard,” moody, distorted guitars and piercing drums are juxtaposed with a bright indie-pop chorus, as Doherty considers the transience of friendship and the danger of forgetting yourself in your relationships. “Fear Of” sees sustained pedal-steel wails and a bright, waltzing piano craft a stage for Doherty’s beautifully lethargic vocals, while the meditative, instrumental kaleidoscope “Kingston South Cuties” functions as both intermission and palate cleanser.
The second half of the EP starts with “Cell,” a surging, existential call into the void, with Doherty lamenting “I lost myself all by myself” as the music careens chaotically forward. At almost eight minutes, the closing track “There Can’t Be Love” pieces together a patchwork of lo-fi arrangements underneath stirring guest vocals from And The Kids’ Hannah Mohan, creating a celestial instrumental blanket that morphs into a poignant acoustic finale. Doherty’s persistent final refrain—“there can’t be love in everything”—becomes a coda for the EP as a whole, which is focused on the importance of critically interrogating your life and everyone whom you share it with.
Battle Ave is a wizened throwback to various beloved cult catalogues which manages to shake off any nostalgic fog and avoid anachronism by employing a detailed focus on the here and now. The EP quietly points to the effort it takes to keep going, and the work it takes to be tender towards even our most intrusive thoughts. The band crafts an evocation of the human experience that is characterized by determination, strength and wonder. “We were gone for six years,” Doherty says. “But that doesn't mean we were dead.”
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/battleaveband
https://twitter.com/battleaveband
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1BYFXfxBrNpwFXsvvExRW7
https://battleave.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/battle_ave/
https://soundcloud.com/battleaveny
In the six years since Battle Ave’s last release, Year of Nod, the Hudson-Valley based band have navigated fatherhood, graduate school, new members, and the cancer diagnosis of drummer Samantha Niss . Now, they’re ready for a reintroduction. Originally formed in 2009 by Niss and guitarist/vocalist Jesse Doherty, the group connected over their love of ambient arrangements, orchestral epics, and the ramshackle indie-rock of the early 90’s. Armed with more experience than ever before, their new self-titled EP expertly stitches together these influences through an intuitive shared language. It’s the kind of creative collaboration that can only exist through sustained friendship and trust.
Battle Ave was largely recorded and arranged remotely, with Doherty describing it as “like a game of Exquisite Corpse… the band mostly cobbled their parts together without knowing what anyone else was going to do.” This resulted in the EP’s dense melodic haze. On opener “My Year With The Wizard,” moody, distorted guitars and piercing drums are juxtaposed with a bright indie-pop chorus, as Doherty considers the transience of friendship and the danger of forgetting yourself in your relationships. “Fear Of” sees sustained pedal-steel wails and a bright, waltzing piano craft a stage for Doherty’s beautifully lethargic vocals, while the meditative, instrumental kaleidoscope “Kingston South Cuties” functions as both intermission and palate cleanser.
The second half of the EP starts with “Cell,” a surging, existential call into the void, with Doherty lamenting “I lost myself all by myself” as the music careens chaotically forward. At almost eight minutes, the closing track “There Can’t Be Love” pieces together a patchwork of lo-fi arrangements underneath stirring guest vocals from And The Kids’ Hannah Mohan, creating a celestial instrumental blanket that morphs into a poignant acoustic finale. Doherty’s persistent final refrain—“there can’t be love in everything”—becomes a coda for the EP as a whole, which is focused on the importance of critically interrogating your life and everyone whom you share it with.
Battle Ave is a wizened throwback to various beloved cult catalogues which manages to shake off any nostalgic fog and avoid anachronism by employing a detailed focus on the here and now. The EP quietly points to the effort it takes to keep going, and the work it takes to be tender towards even our most intrusive thoughts. The band crafts an evocation of the human experience that is characterized by determination, strength and wonder. “We were gone for six years,” Doherty says. “But that doesn't mean we were dead.”
words by Sammy Maine
We get by with a little help from our friends
Battle Ave, Hudson Valley, dream pop, indie pop, indie rock, alt rock, folk indie, art folk, art pop, melancholy pop, "Fool", EP "I Saw The Egg", Friend Club Records & Totally Real Records,
No comments:
Post a Comment