SECRET CITIES
SECRET CITIES
Started by MJ Parker and Charlie Gokey at the tender age of 15, Secret Cities grew out of a shared love of psychedelic pop and a pen-pal arrangement that saw the pair trading 4-track tapes through the mail. The band eventually expanded to a trio with the addition of fellow Midwesterner and kindred spirit Alex Abnos on drums. After a few small releases on Baltimore’s Fall Records, the band released its proper full length debut (the well-received Pink Graffiti) in 2010 on Western Vinyl. Following a nationwide tour in support of that release, the band spent several intense months writing and recording new material, re-imagining their sound as a fractured take on classic AM radio pop. Strange Hearts, the resulting album, is due in early March 2011 on Western Vinyl.
MYSPACE :: FACEBOOK :: TWITTER :: WESTERN VINYL
"Magnificent...I've rarely heard an album that wields so many weapons — not effortlessly, but with such painstaking mastery that it's almost arduous not to be won over... 4/5" [Tiny Mix Tapes]
"...a fractured piece of music made from just about every possible sound under the sun, probably not too far off from what [Brian] Wilson’s been attempting for his entire career." [Fader]
GOSPEL GOSSIP
Minneapolis' Gospel Gossip plays a noisy, shimmering brand of post shoe-gaze rock and roll. Sarah Nienaber sings in a full toned whisper while wielding her guitar like a weapon as Justin Plank and Oliver Moltaji, on bass and drums respectively, round out this powerful trio with the collective force to match.
CRIMES
What started as a demo project for Andrew Jansen turned into a full band named after the content of the songs he was writing about, Crimes. The original demos, with all parts performed by Andrew, were about a seedy action, jealousy, or crime. The songs were posted online and paired with links to Minneapolis Crime Statistic. Many seemed interested in the tunes so Luke Friedrich, Reese Hagy, and Hannah Fraser were brought on to bring the hazy jangle of Crimes to life.
