Alvin Band is a one-man band, comprised of the head of his department of one. One is a lonely number. But wait, there is nothing singular about the sounds of the Alvin Band. Alvin Band is catchy, heavily-layered pop -- a more melodic and interesting version of Panda Bear if we must pigeonhole. I guess I should say that the man, seemingly very young, is the multi-talented Rick Alvin Schaier who is currently touring as the drummer for Miniature Tigers, so he is not living a solitary life. Miniature Tigers are probably getting all kinds of notice since they are on the road with Ben Folds and soon with Dear and the Headlights, a stop at SXSW and later still with Bishop Allen. All of this is surely to secure them as the indie-pop kids nocturnal emission for 2009. Kudos to Miniature Tigers, I’m actually re-listening to them on MySpace right now and they are rife with jangly hooks -- just the sort of thing I am apt to have a proverbial ‘wank’ over myself (I am no different than the masses). Anyway, as I listen again and again, I feel I’m falling for Miracle Tigers too. I want to send them a Valentine next year. I want them to be my new favorite band. But wait, as much I am digging on these guys, I’m just as intrigued by the solo project Alvin Band. When I say multi-talented above, I was referring to the fact that Rick Alvin Schaier is both a musician and painter. And I quite like his paintings. Consciously naïve, I would say. They have all the quirky elements of folk art that I adore – tilted perspective, lack of modeling and contour, use of clashing patterns to make interesting compositions, etc. (see the cover for the Miniature Tigers release Tell It To The Volcano). I want to buy one of his paintings and, as per his MySpace, he apparently is taking commissions but I cannot imagine he has a lot of time to paint with the current heavy touring schedule (I may buy one – R.A.S., so call me if you are reading this and are actively painting). So what are you to make of this clusterfeck of a post? I will just have to provide linkage (clickable within the text above and below) to get you on the multiplicity bandwagon, that is the Alvin Band and Miracle Tigers bandwagon about to take off and rightly so.
Alvin Band – Stanley Kubrick :: YouTube ::
If you cannot wait for the upcoming Mantis Preying album release, you can download Alvin Band early mp3s in a zip file, if you visit their MySpace here.
Miniature Tigers – Viking Heart :: YouTube ::
Miniature Tigers – The Wolf :: mp3 ::
Miniature Tigers – Dino Damage :: mp3 ::
Even more links:
Alvin Band MySpace
Miracle Tigers MySpace
Toygers Are Miniature Tigers Too
The Alvin is a Deep-Sea Submersible
1 comment:
I went to the link for the early Alvin Band zip file but it is not there anymore. Do you happen to have these tracks? I would love to hear them and I cannot find them anywhere. Please let me know if you can.
Thanks!
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