STAMPEAD

Stampead has a lot of things going for them.

They have solid guitar playing recorded very well and melodies as good as anything on the radio.
The professionalism in their playing and in the overall sound of the recording is solid.
They also have a very passionate lead singer. I encourage you to seek out this CD and enjoy it for the songwriting and musicianship.

-Stacey Board
- www.musesmuse.com

Stampead, a four man band based out of Los Angeles, California is building a strong following in this tough musical city. Their songs have a classic rock sound yet their arrangements are fresh and innovative. Lead vocalist, Judd David, has an expressive and versatile style that blends well with the dramatic, dueling guitars and solid rock beats that the group is culling as their signature sound. This eight-track collection ranges from rock to ballad like compositions revolving around deep, dark lyrics. 'Capo 1' is the impressive opener featuring a driving beat, combined with forceful guitar licks and passionate vocals. 'Capo 1' sets the overall tone of the CD but each of Stampead's songs has something unique to offer. The second song 'Ballad of Page' is a slower but edgy track with haunting vocals. 'Orchestras and Highways' is a gripping road trip traveling on inventive, striking instrumentation and elastic vocals. Couch the Comfort, which is self-produced is Stampead's second full length release and really captures the passion and professionalism that the band brings to its music!

• Recommended Tracks: (1,2,6) [USA/CA 2004 - web] (Review by Laura Turner Lynch for Kweevak.com)
- Kweevak.com

COUCH THE COMFORT is the second release from the L.A. quartet known as Stampead, and let me tell ya, these guys have the sensitive classic-rock vibe down pat. At times, this disc has a way too radio-friendly vibe, but there's enough substance behind the songs to keep you listening.

-Jude Ruiz - Skratch Magazine

Mostly an acoustic version of their “plugged in" set, slightly bluesy and melancholy rock with a heavy edge and an intricate, haunting beauty. The brothers have studied hard and play together extremely well, complimenting each other’s styles and strengths and creating a sweet, soulful and melodic set that some how kept it’s edge in the translation from full band to solo acoustic. Lots of clever and intricate picking and soaring solo’s. - Music Connection

The high point of Stampead shows is often, not coincidentally, the high point of their album Couch The Comfort. The song "Ballad of Page" is a complete work of art, full of both narrative and abstract elements, structured, but not restricted. It retains enough of the classical rock format to be instantly appealing, but it also resonates with the dusty, mournful feel of Stampead. In concert, the energy--the desperate passion--of the chorus is multiplied more than can be accounted for by the amps. There is a raw power that, while hinted at on the album, is infinitely more resonant in person.

The song is a last prayer of sorts (much like the band's cover of "Bird on a Wire", which shows up a few songs later on the album), uttered by a man looking back on a life of crimes from the cell that is his last home. The story of how this song was composed is powerful and touching in itself, but it is the voice of Judd David that carries this prayer to heaven. David's voice is that rare--perhaps unique--combination of plaintive and powerful. Its sorrowful notes are brought out with subtlety and nuance, and yet they soar over the drums, bass, and guitars--and not because the mike is turned up, David is simply able to bring passionate sorrow to life. Though Couch the Comfort seemed to take a back seat during this show in favor of newer work, it was hard to deny the power of this song.

Through the glass of this song, one can see the plaintive notes emerge in all of Stampead's songs. In many, forgiveness is asked, though not expected, of the various objects of apostrophe: women, god, society, everyone, everything. In "Momas Little Baby", Judd sings, "I'd like to say I am / left shouldered man / But the devil on my right / speaks my language too well." It is not so much guilt that pervades them, as it is thanks for the favors of all those who are hurt and remain, any who are slighted but unexpectedly forgive. Later, in the same song, we hear, "And with only good thoughts / maybe I can catch you."

But this overarching theme doesn't mean the album, or Stampead's repertoire, is boring or unimaginitive. The songs vary in their arrangements: elaborate guitar solos, harmonica lines, even an old, dark country theme in "Sinners, Saints and Accidents" (a new track). This song was fun to hear live, as the bass and drums of Thad Struck and Sean McKinney (respectively) were allowed to clear a driving rhythmic path through which Eric David's guitar strode confidently behind the lyrics. Other songs were lighter. The upbeat, energetic feel of "Waiting for Tonight" is hard to resist, and the crowd, generally subdued on this night, began to move. "Milk and Honey", with its multiple endings and infectious syncopated instrumentals can turn the melancholy power of other songs into a high-spirited jam. Overall, Stampead's performance stood out from others because of their ability to adroitly mix up keys, tempos, and styles, instead of plying a mundane string of three-chord progressions and limp back-beats.

The night was a showcase of indie talent, or aspired to be, trying to catch what might transcend the next big thing. If the music industry is just (and it's not), that next big thing would be Stampead. As it is, Stampead might benefit from touring, allowing a fan base to develop, as it surely would, in a broader area.

The new songs showcased at The Gig will eventually make their way onto Stampead's next album, in development this summer. Some, though, are already available on-line at http://www.myspace.com/stampead, and they can always be heard live (see their concert dates on the band's website, www.stampead.com).

Read the entire review here:
http://www.bedfordnovel.com/fifteenproject/seven.htm
- Pat Lawrence

“Sometimes I feel like I’m hypnotized. Eric is going on a long guitar solo and I’m listening and kind of taken away and transported by them and there’s not a lot of music that really does that to me these days. A lot of stuff seems kind of format like…They seem to break down doors and barriers and come up with a sound that’s pretty unique.” - South Bay consert promoter

“Proven to be one of LA’s best all around bands.”
- .

Led by Judd David’s soft yet playful voice, Stampead’s latest collection, labelled Milk and Honey, sounds like the mixed CD your best friend made for a road trip. David and his band take their music from country to alternative to classic rock and back again. The songs can be smooth and sexy, intense and thought-provoking, or just a jumping party ballad. The transition can be noticed in “Sinners, Saints, and Accidents,” a melancholy song about forbidden love and affairs. Before you know it, the song has ended and the band has leaped into “Psycho Killer,” an acidic, lively cover of the Talking Heads’ 1977 classic.

Among their musical influences, the members of Stampead list Zeppelin, the Doors and Bob Dylan. It would be fitting that these gentlemen attract the college scene, since these icons appear on many posters adorning dorm rooms throughout the country. Not to say that their shows are strictly packed with hyper collegiates. Their versatile sound is mature enough to reach the thirtysomethings who appreciate a mellow environment while enjoying their beers. Don’t be surprised if one of these infectious songs winds up on a movie soundtrack.

Lounge-goers of all ages won’t be able to stop singing along with some of these tracks. Who wouldn’t want to know the words to a song called “Fuck You, My Friend”? The always-present hippies, who dance like no one is watching will wish they had the whole floor to themselves once the title track “Milk and Honey” starts playing. Those who prefer to forego dancing, while still contributing to the party by raising their beers and singing loudly will enjoy the downright giddy “Waiting for Tonight.” Though it’s probably about the anticipation of getting busy, one can’t help feeling like they wrote the song right before the show started. The band has always had a love of the stage, and can get really worked up for the crowd. It’s the band’s personal love song to performing itself.

“We are in the moment and excited about the song we’re playing.” says David. “Playing almost every night is our way to reach people.”

It’s sure to be a packed house on Oct. 3. Whichever song you happen to arrive in the middle of will set the mood; but don’t get too comfortable. Stampead is a band that likes to keep the audience on its toes. Don’t be afraid to join the stampede...it’s a dark but fun ride that’s in town for one night only. Playing the Juggling Gypsy on Tuesday.
- Encore Magazine

"A Southern folk and blues influence hangs like woodsmoke over this soulful slice of art (the 2nd full-length) from singer/songwriter Judd David and cohorts. From the first track, "Capo 1," to the jailed man's lament "Ballad of Page," to the affecting "Mama's Little Baby," this is clearly a band with a vision at work. Melodic guitar solos come and go, weaving through the earthy, organic material. Stampead should beat a path to Americana indie labels." - Music Connection

They live in a van and crash hotel pools. And according to them, that’s OK; they don’t need anything else. For years, Stampead was an L.A.-based group, playing shows from Malibu to Orange County after coming together as a band with members from across the country and across the seas. Now they’re a motley gang of nomads, touring perhaps indefinitely and basking in the borrowed freedom that playing a show in a different town every night affords. And while being an independent band means they still have to spend some time promoting themselves, booking, etc., now—without 9-to-5 jobs or a “home” (other than the road)—they can spend more time with their true love: the stage. Seventy-seven shows and 25 states in six months is a lot of work, but for Stampead, the music makes it all worthwhile.
And it’s that music that sets them apart. Their intricate guitar melodies inspired by blues and world-music mingle with impulsive, boisterous drums and ambling bass-lines to produce the distinctive blending of pensive and powerful that is the heart of good music. It’s fun without being superficial. That infectious sound has allowed them to draw crowds coast to coast, which has made touring rewarding for the band’s members.
To be sure, Stampead has had to pay their dues in order to earn the opportunity to live the rock ‘n’ roll dream of sleeping in their car and stealing creature comforts from miserly hotel managers. After honing their sound around Southern California for several years, Stampead put out their first album as a four-piece: Couch the Comfort. Back then, the songs were reflective, almost pious. As a young band, they were making the kind of music old men make. Now, three years and scores of shows later, they seem to have grown down. Their new release, Milk and Honey, has transformed some of the band’s philosophical asceticism into a brimming, energetic passion for their songs’ subjects, as if they were reliving the impulsiveness of youth equipped with the knowledge of age.
It makes sense that the band should have some passionate stories to tell. Since the release of Milk and Honey, Stampead has been driving cross-country, playing in any roadhouse or henhouse that will have them. They’ve performed with their idols (Tim Reynolds, Bruce Hampton and the Codetalkers) and stared into the footlights, surprised to hear strangers cheering for them. But even now, they’re no strangers to hardship: after all the booking mishaps and myriad other hitches that plague any long tour, the band’s gear was stolen out of their trailer the night they got home to L.A. What’s interesting, though, is that the band approaches this kind of trial with an uncommon wisdom. Instead of throwing up their hands in despair, they put themselves in hock for new instruments and determined to make the best of a bad situation. Within weeks, they were playing shows again, undeterred. That attitude should serve them well over the coming months, as they embark on their new tour mid-winter. Braving harsh weather in Colorado and elsewhere is the sort of challenge they attack with abandon; Sean McKinney, the band’s drummer, refers cavalierly to driving through the Rockies in the snow with a trailer in tow as “just another adventure.”
Inevitably, the sound produced by this mixture of adventurousness and wisdom has a complexity that purely “young” or “old” music can’t have. Their songs represent the best of both worlds: fun music that one doesn’t quickly grow out of. The band will probably benefit with life-long fans, because their albums promise long-lasting enjoyment that merits multiple returns and refuses to pander without being stultifyingly self-conscious.
Milk and Honey, though, can hardly be contained in just two worlds. It is a humid and lively album in the traditions of Dylan, late Springsteen, and Willie Nelson. Each song takes on a very different motif, from the old-school country-noir feel of “Sinners Saints and Accidents” to the amped-up new wave pulse of their rendition of “Psycho Killer.” On the road, they hear from audiences that their shows are “all over the place.” But guitarist Eric David says he knows that’s not an insult; it just means the band’s music reflects the varied tastes of their audience. And they can pull it all off, because the band hasn’t just grown down, they’ve grown up and out. They’ve developed as musicians and individuals, and settled into a multi-faceted identity that gives them the freedom to be the band they want to be.
Still, Stampead probably will divide people into two camps as they set off on their new tour. If you like music that won’t let you down no matter how many times you listen, you’ll make room for Stampead. If you’re a hotel manager, you’ll lock up your pool.
Check them out Sat, Jan. 20 at Flagstaff Brewing Co., 16 E. Rte. 66. The show is free and will get rolling around 9:30 p.m. For more info, see www.stampead.com or call 773-1442.
by Pat Lawrence - Flagstaff Live