Nice Review

The New Rags got a nice review from allmusic.com. Here's the text:

"There haven't been too many keyboards-and-drums duos in the history of rock �n' roll (Lee Michaels and Attila come to mind), but it's easy to wonder why after listening to Tom Merrigan and Andy Pierce, a/k/a the New Rags, on their six-song, 16-minute EP Taking (sic)Jennie To Brooklyn. Actually, the sound here is not so much reminiscent of Michaels' classic rock or Attila's
heavy metal as it is like another unadorned rock duo, the White Stripes, with keyboards substituted for electric guitar. "Recorded entirely on Otari MX5050
MKIII-8 to achieve the fullest truth," reads a sleeve note, and the fullest truth entails some degree of distortion, but all in the name of fervent rock 'n' roll. Merrigan sings in a slightly strained tenor while providing lots of electric piano and organ chording, and Pierce pounds away busily as if the two were in a garage somewhere. The music could have been made any time in the last 40 years, from the sound of it, with a likely date closer to 1965 than 2005. But the excitement never lets up, and the listener never
wants it to stop". ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Silent Stereo Update: Chicks RockFest and the New Rags

The 7th annual Chicks RockFest took place from April 5-8th at Cinncinnati's Poison Room. Silent Stereo's own Dead Language packed up its gear and made the 11 hour drive out to the Queen City to play. The band played the on the festival's first night on the upstairs stage and impressed the small but passionate crowd. The trip was made worthwhile by the pleasant and accommodating nature of the show's organizers, who made every effort to welcome the band and attend to its needs. The promoter even thanked Dead Language for playing, making the band realize it most definitely was not in New York City anymore.

In other news, the New Rag's single "Your Room," already appearing in Nike commercials throughout Asia and Australia, will be featured on spin.com as one of it's featured "mp3's of the day." The song should up in a few days, but we're sure all you Silent Stereo faithful have already heard it. The New Rags also showed up on VH1's "Best Week Ever" blog. The word's getting out on these guys, but we still need you to tell your friends and family about them.

Finally, pre-production has begun on our next Silent Stereo release. Our studios in Jersey City have just undergone some extensive renovations and we've picked up a vintage 4 track Ampex tape machine. Capitol records used the Ampex 4 track back in 1969 and many classic tracks have been recorded on this model. We hope to begin a new legacy of authentic sounding music on this machine.

Some Random Stuff

There's been some buzz in the blogosphere about Billy Joel's performance of the national anthem at the Super Bowl. Speculators believe that Joel used Autotune on his voice to 'assist' him during the notably difficult piece. For those who haven't heard, Autotune is a computer program that adjusts a singer's pitch to correct fluctuations. When it's used, if you listen closely, you can hear the program 'grab' the note and fix it. Here's a clip of Joel singing the anthem. Listen for yourself, especially when Joel sings "By the dawn's early light..." and "...stripes and bright stars."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYIMmi7JtHc


And in other news, The New Rags, who most assuredly do not use Autotune or any other digital enhancement, are creating quite a stir in the Land of the Rising Sun. They've reached number #2 on iTunes's charts of most downloaded single with their song "Your Room." If you haven't already, pay a visit to the boys at their myspace page or purchase their music at iTunes.