| AgesandAges | |
|---|---|
AgesandAges |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Portland, OR, USA |
| Genres | Raw choral pop[1] Brisk indie-folk[2] |
| Years active | 2009-present |
| Labels | Knitting Factory Records |
| Website | knittingfactoryrecords.com/artists/agesandages |
| Members | |
| Tim Perry Graham Mackenzie Adam Thompson Sarah Riddle Daniel Hunt Rob Oberdorfer Kate O'Brien-Clarke[3] Johanna Kunin |
|
| Past members | |
| John McDonald Lisa Stringfield[4] |
|
AgesandAges is an American rock band from Portland which has been receiving positive critical attention[5] because of its upbeat[6] "raw choral pop" sound.[1] Their music features seven-part vocal harmonies[7] accompanied by handclaps, shakers and noise-makers.[6] It is a secular band with a big tent revival sound.[3] The group was voted as a top Portland band by Willamette Week.[3] In 2011, they signed a record deal with Knitting Factory Records and have been touring nationally in the United States.
Contents |
AgesandAges was founded by Tim Perry when his earlier band, Pseudosix, was disintegrating in 2008;[8] early members were Daniel Hunt and Graham Mackenzie.[3] The group gelled in 2009 with seven members.[3] According to one account, it was Perry's conception to have the band be a "joyful and choral" rock group without apathy and drama and with music which felt "good to play and made people move."[3] Members are in their early thirties generally; members divy up responsibilities such as counting money and managing T-shirts.[3] The band travels nationally by using a 12-seat passenger van which was modified to hold 15 seats.[3]
AgesandAges performed at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin in March 2011.[6][7] Their song No Nostalgia from their debut album Alright You Restless was previewed on National Public Radio.[9] The album was recorded "almost entirely live" with seven voices singing into a single microphone, according to one account.[5] It sounds like "a group of friends who drive around in a van singing songs wherever anyone will let them sing," according to critic Ryan White of The Oregonian.[5]
Reviewer Kevin Friedman commented on the band's persona, describing it as somewhat like a cult which values "commitment" and with an Up With People vibe and has a "sunny" sound.[2] Friedman quoted Perry about his thinking about the debut album:
| “ | The whole album is about willful isolation, a voluntary detachment from the rest of civilization ... But it's as much of an effort to bring people into the fold as it is to keep it isolated. ... If it makes sense to you, then let's do it full force, but don't muck up the path with negative rhetoric or with your physical presence. -- Tim Perry quoted in The Oregonian, February 2011[2] | ” |
Friedman elaborated that the group draws "significant sonic influence from his religious upbringing" and that having seven members helps achieve a "congregation sound" even though the lyrics are basically secular thematically.[2] Perry said the sound was achieved by "all the voices chiming in, that swell and spontaneous movement that grabs you," in an interview.[2] In 2011, they released a video directed by Alicia J. Rose[10] entitled Navy Parade.[11] Their first record was produced by Kevin Robinson.[10]
Reviews have been positive from critics in the Oregon press.[2][3][12] In addition, their music at the South by Southwest music festival in March 2011 was noted by critics from Boston[6] and Chicago[7] papers. Reviewer Casey Jarman in Willamette Week described the debut album as "classic" which "sinks its teeth into a listener within the first five seconds" and which has a "joyful, electric spirit" which "seems almost comically out of place in a city full of down-tempo sad sacks."[1] He described the vocal harmonies as "thick, tight-but-exuberant" and he wrote that "desperation breeds art with a pulse."[1] He wrote:
| “ | AgesandAges’ debut, Alright You Restless, does just that—the clap-along hick-funk beat and folk-rock licks of opener No Nostalgia seem pulled straight out of the Band’s playbook, and it’s the kind of infectious, hot-shit groove that forces indie rock kids to shell out beer money for ring tones. -- Casey Jarman, Willamette Week, 2011[1] | ” |