Rockness Recommends
From Monument to Masses finally rock NYC again.
October 13, 2008
After a couple years (at least), San Francisco's From Monument to Masses finally return to the East Coast to play one show before jumping The Puddle for a European tour. For the three or four of you who actually read Rockness, you know that I've been a fan of these guys for what seems like forever. Sorry for being so cliche by touting their talents again!
I've long spouted on about how they should be thought of in the same breath as critical favorites like Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky. After all, they do intense guitar instrumental (with lots of synth prettiness mixed in) as well as anyone. Who knows why FMTM is still so low-profile; maybe their samples are too politically charged for populists tastes, maybe they don't tour frequently enough to build ground support, maybe it's too hard to find their album (on Dim Mak).
Why this band isn't selling out shows from coast to coast could be any number of reasons, but it certainly has nothing to do with the strength of their songs. They build and swell and finally explode into the most glorious of rock-outs. I've also had a few sneak listens of FMTM's new stuff and, impossibly, it blows their back catalog out of the water. Go to this show. You'll be into it.
And hey, look at this! Also playing is the great Golden City! We love these guys. Golden City is Eric Richter (of Christie Front Drive, Antartica and The 101 fame), Jim Lehnhoff, Chris Peterson and Jeremy Jones. The band has been compared to everyone from early R.E.M. and Buffalo Tom to (a more obvious choice) Christie Front Drive all growns-up.
We had the pleasure of having Golden City play an Oh My Rockness show last year and they killed it. We can't wait to see them again. And look for their debut release sooner rather than later. You can hear some of the songs on that upcoming record on their MySpace page. Tell me they aren't perfect shower singing material.
BUY TICKETS TO SEE FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES AND GOLDEN CITY AT KNITTING FACTORY TAP BAR!
From Monument to Masses and Golden City play Knitting Factory Tap Bar, on Friday, October 17th.
I've long spouted on about how they should be thought of in the same breath as critical favorites like Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky. After all, they do intense guitar instrumental (with lots of synth prettiness mixed in) as well as anyone. Who knows why FMTM is still so low-profile; maybe their samples are too politically charged for populists tastes, maybe they don't tour frequently enough to build ground support, maybe it's too hard to find their album (on Dim Mak).
Why this band isn't selling out shows from coast to coast could be any number of reasons, but it certainly has nothing to do with the strength of their songs. They build and swell and finally explode into the most glorious of rock-outs. I've also had a few sneak listens of FMTM's new stuff and, impossibly, it blows their back catalog out of the water. Go to this show. You'll be into it.
And hey, look at this! Also playing is the great Golden City! We love these guys. Golden City is Eric Richter (of Christie Front Drive, Antartica and The 101 fame), Jim Lehnhoff, Chris Peterson and Jeremy Jones. The band has been compared to everyone from early R.E.M. and Buffalo Tom to (a more obvious choice) Christie Front Drive all growns-up.
We had the pleasure of having Golden City play an Oh My Rockness show last year and they killed it. We can't wait to see them again. And look for their debut release sooner rather than later. You can hear some of the songs on that upcoming record on their MySpace page. Tell me they aren't perfect shower singing material.
From Monument to Masses and Golden City play Knitting Factory Tap Bar, on Friday, October 17th.
