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XROXX Band of the MonthJUNE 2004
We get a lot of materials in daily from bands at XROXX. Stuff just floods in, whether it's new CD's for review and for XROXX Radio or just standard business junk e-mail for credit cards and Office Max (always use Office Depot...better selection). That said, it's hard to really get noticed when your package gets delivered to our P.O. Box. New Blind Nationals took a different approach. We still don't know how they did it, but Scott actually got their package at his house a couple months back. We were a little bewildered but just chalked it up to the power of the internet. (A note to bands reading this...Receiving stuff at our houses now annoys us, so please send it to the P.O. Box! That's why we're dumping $150 or so into it!)
Yes, New Blind Nationals are on a small label out of Milwaukee called Sparkler Records. Now, don't quote me on this, but I think they have a regular staff of about two or three people. Remind you of someone New Blind Nationals have been blessing the Milwaukee music scene since 2001. They took the traditional route of playing 90 percent of their shows in their own backyard for awhile, hitting up Milwaukee, Racine and the surrounding suburbs. They played out in Illinois and Indiana a bit in the first couple of years and played a ton of shows that were what I like to call "Call To Action" shows. These are basically your benefit shows or multiple billing shows. The band had a rough first year. Shortly after recording their first EP, Used To Be A Passenger, the band had every
They lost Friedman in 2003 but acquired Joe Kirschling, who is one of the Sparkler Records regulars, to play drums. The band spent much of 2003 writing new songs and revisiting old ones before hitting the studio in August to record Bury The Pattern. This year, the New Blind Nationals have really started to branch out in 2004. Through the first quarter of 2004, they had played Tennessee, Ohio, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Pennsylvania on an East Coast tour. They had numerous CD Release shows for the new album, which came out in April. The New Blind Nationals are on the right track. They have a great website that includes features such as WWNBND, an advice column, a damage report and a pretty detailed history of the band. The band calls themselves a "rock band with punk ethics" and rock they do. They take themselves seriously enough to not be taken seriously, but if you're smart, you'll at least look into them. You might be scared by what you see or you might be confused, but, either way, you'll be feeling something. Do you want to be the next XROXX Band of the Month? Please e-mail us at bandofthemonth@XROXX.com. Dick Sycamore Go Back. |
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The New Blind Nationals package was impressive. More impressive was their first full-length
album that was included in the package, Bury The Pattern. This isn't an album review, however. That will have to wait for another day. Some people will bitch and moan like last month that it's not fair to compare the New Blind Nationals and Sunspot to Joe Band because they have record label support behind them. Well folks, in both cases, these bands are on a label, but not a label like Atlantic or Geffen. Hell, these labels are true small labels and aren't even affiliated with the big ones in any way. That's why these bands still qualified for our XROXX Band of the Month status.
else? Yes, that's exactly how XROXX started before we added some great writers like Jayne*Star, Austin James and Kristie Batten. I think they still easily qualify by our standards of indie. Speaking of Sparkler Records, they have some really great bands on their roster. Make sure you check them out.
piece of their equipment stolen from their practice space. Shortly thereafter they broke up, but then regrouped again in December 2001 minus one of the original members and added two other members, Michael Marchant and Matt Waller. Marchant is still with the band.
The band then recorded another EP in March 2002, Unconscious and Standing. They then did a small Midwest tour that involved hitting Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. They came back from tour to lose Waller on drums and added DJ Hostetler who would go on a second tour with the band. DJ Hostetler was only on loan from another band though, and they eventually added Daniel Friedman. They released another EP, Born On A Beach Blanket, in November and joined Sparkler Records.