Built by Animals

Listed as a CMJ 2010 band to be amped about, these three take the coarse riffs of drawling rock and mingle around pop progression and coaxing bass leads into a blue album of punk party cardis. - Pink Mafia

Listed as a CMJ 2010 band to be amped about, these three take the coarse riffs of drawling rock and mingle around pop progression and coaxing bass leads into a blue album of punk party cardis. - Pink Mafia

"Brooklyn music trio Built by Animals, on the other hand, catalogue the wonders of the savage corporate world with insight and ingenuity for the rest of us blinkered anthropocentrics. From the opening cough on “Return to the Power Kingdom” to the killer guitar riff on “Teenage Rampage,” from the ticking time bomb of “Spreadsheets” to the twisting melodies of “Ducks,” BBA documents the natural but depressing progression from high school to college to a corporate life of cubicles and Excel reports." - This Week in New York

"Teenage Rampage” begins with a jewel-toned, jerky guitar that has garnered the band comparisons to Vampire Weekend’s westernized afrobeat style. The rest of the EP also references early Weezer, Guster and Modest Mouse. “Spreadsheets” may just become the unofficial anthem of the tired, repressed office worker with its true-to-life lyrics. - The Deli

"Teenage Rampage” begins with a jewel-toned, jerky guitar that has garnered the band comparisons to Vampire Weekend’s westernized afrobeat style. The rest of the EP also references early Weezer, Guster and Modest Mouse. “Spreadsheets” may just become the unofficial anthem of the tired, repressed office worker with its true-to-life lyrics. - The Deli

"Teenage Rampage" is a party song that is quite catchy and you’ll find yourself really enjoying bobbing your head to it; the jangly guitars and the mild afro beat stylings, speak to a reminiscence of Vampire Weekend’s A-Punk. The EP is totally solid and worth a listen. - Music Savage

Nick Crane's throaty vocals recall both the unplanned, cool-calm-collect shrugs of Julian Casablancas and the wishy-washy heart-sickened croak of Jeff Tweedy – he sings about parties, girls, escapism through weed as the guitars march up and down through strong, (but never offensively loud) crescendos. - Adequacy.net

I'm actually bloody glad they caught my attention because their music and philosophy are exactly what I've been searching for since I first discovered The Virgins almost four years ago. Same same but different - more "jungly", to be precise... Having just played CMJ last October and dropped their first EP shortly before that (check it out here), it's just a matter of time before they get the recognition they deserve. - Damien is Listening to...

I'm actually bloody glad they caught my attention because their music and philosophy are exactly what I've been searching for since I first discovered The Virgins almost four years ago. Same same but different - more "jungly", to be precise... Having just played CMJ last October and dropped their first EP shortly before that (check it out here), it's just a matter of time before they get the recognition they deserve. - Damien is Listening to...

“Do you believe in drugs?” asks singer Nick Crane, as the rest of his bands kicks into overdrive on Teenage Rampage off of Built By Animals new EP Corporate Syndrome. While song titles aren’t the only thing this simmering downtown trio borrow from Sonic Youth, they also re-appropriate the pop sensibility of The Strokes and, for better or worse, late period Chili Peppers (more on that later) into something engaging, real, and most importantly, fun. Return to the Power Kingdom kicks things off with a thundering tom roll and feedback before opening up into a cascading power pop blitzkrieg. The track does sound dulled by one too many click and drags through the Pro Tools ringer, but the raw spirit of a band that believes in themselves shines through making for an enjoyable if ultimately over processed endeavor.

Fortunately the band seems to have learned a thing or two behind the boards for the aforementioned Teenage Rampage. The opening riff jumps out of the speakers like an ecstatic adolescent who’s just finished his last day of school. The song continues to jump and weave around it’s center in a manor that’s both refreshing and natural. With many bands trying to do too much in one song, and so many others content to photocopy a single riff for three and a half minutes, it’s nice to hear a band who’s willing to stretch their legs for a track without losing sight of what they came to do in the first place.

If their is a failure here, it’s the bland Spreadsheets. While far from unlistenable, it comes off as underwritten and underwhelming compared to the rest of the EP. The band also does the song no favors by slotting it directly in front of the vastly superior and sonically similar Ducks, a ferocious swan song informed by the best of early Weezer and Doolittle era Pixies, there is a palpable sense of disillusion and remorse to the song, a difficult task that the band achieves thanks largely to the tightness and conviction of their playing, and the palpable humanity of Cranes vocals.

Built By Animals are a band on the rise, but a band still in search of their true voice. As I mentioned before, they rely a bit too heavily on some of Red Hot Chili Peppers latter day vices, and would do well to scale back, but not completely abandon, their falsetto harmonies. They send the final 30 seconds of Ducks soaring into the stratosphere, but bog down otherwise fine moments on Teenage Rampage and Power Kingdom. When the EP finished playing, iTunes kept playing the next band in my library alphabetically, Built To Spill. Formed in Idaho in the heady days of grunge’s initial explosion, they went from genre also-rans to one of the most unique and beloved bands of 1990’s indie rock. With a little more vision and a lot more hard work, I wouldn’t be surprised if Built By Animals carve their own unique passage in the still unwritten history of rock in the 10’s. - Protopia

The members of Built by Animals are either oblivious or completely subversive. The songs on this self-titled EP and the accompanying art absorb or pilfer everything possible from other bands and re-appropriate. The end product of a less talented band would simply be annoying and derivative. But the Brooklyn-based members of Built by Animals are talented, and the four songs shine all the more because of their total hipsterdom or hipster mockery (and I’m leaning toward believing it’s the latter).

Built By Animals’ guitar-based indie-rock is a mix of Phoenix’s herky-jerky melodies and the hyperactive guitar strum of non-First Impressions of Earth Strokes. They aren’t trying to do anything new; they just do it well. The bridge in “Teenage Rampage” has the type of melody and counterpoint that the rest of the song has lead me to want. When they finally drop in the riff, it feels right and satisfying. That’s solid songwriting.

The band is composed of talented musicians, as well as talented songwriters. Bassist Nick Crane shows off his impressive chops with speedy runs in a particularly bouncy section of opener “Return to the Power Kingdom.” The mathy-yet-melodic counterpoint that guitarist Morgan von Ancken intertwines makes “Return to the Power Kingdom” one of the best tracks here. Crane also flexes his melodic muscle in the bass solo (!) in “Ducks.”

The band shows they know how to build tension with the aforementioned “Ducks,” and they show they can make a subdued tune with the Red Hot Chili Peppers-esque “Spreadsheets.” The dry vocal delivery deserves praise on “Spreadsheets,” as it sticks out in a pleasing way.

It’s hard to pick out specific reasons for why I like Built by Animals’ self-titled EP so much. They’re not doing anything even remotely groundbreaking, but they knock the songs out of the park. Their tunes are energetic, melodic and smile-inducing without being saccharine or pandering; it’s hard to knock a band that can pull that off. I eagerly anticipate what Built by Animals will do next; they’ve established a solid foundation and can go in many directions. Onward and upward! For fans of Phoenix, Strokes, The Cribs, Bishop Allen, and other New York guitar-rock bands. - Independent Clauses

Brooklyn, NY trio, Built By Animals release their debut EP, Corporate Syndrome. In four brief songs, the group attempts to chronicle the persons average life from high school (“Teenage Rampage”), to college (“Return to Power Kingdom”), to a bleak 40-hour a week job (“Spreadsheets”, “Ducks”) all in a neat little indie rock package.
The problem with telling me your album is a concept album is then I try to look for the concept. Looking as hard as I could, I could only really see the “concept” in one song on the album. “Spreadsheets” really sums up the plight of the nine-to-five worker. The track is one of the slower songs on the album and has kind of a Modest Mouse feel to it. The lyrics include morose doses of reality like “eight hours to work/to play/to sleep/get up/no way/it’s not the job you hate/it is yourself”.
The track “Teenage Rampage” is supposed to represent high school. Instead the track is really just a party song that could easily be for high school, college, or adulthood. It is a pretty good song but nothing about it screams formative teenage years to me. However the track’s jangly guitar riff screams Oxford Collapse to me.
Besides the loose concept that is supposed to define the album which I find largely absent, the EP is strong debut. The songs are fun without being goofy (except for a “quack” in “Ducks” which is a little unnecessary). I am really interested in hearing a full length album from these guys. - Surviving the Golden Age

The members of Built by Animals are either oblivious or completely subversive. The songs on this self-titled EP and the accompanying art absorb or pilfer everything possible from other bands and re-appropriate. The end product of a less talented band would simply be annoying and derivative. But the Brooklyn-based members of Built by Animals are talented, and the four songs shine all the more because of their total hipsterdom or hipster mockery (and I’m leaning toward believing it’s the latter).

Built By Animals’ guitar-based indie-rock is a mix of Phoenix’s herky-jerky melodies and the hyperactive guitar strum of non-First Impressions of Earth Strokes. They aren’t trying to do anything new; they just do it well. The bridge in “Teenage Rampage” has the type of melody and counterpoint that the rest of the song has lead me to want. When they finally drop in the riff, it feels right and satisfying. That’s solid songwriting.

The band is composed of talented musicians, as well as talented songwriters. Bassist Nick Crane shows off his impressive chops with speedy runs in a particularly bouncy section of opener “Return to the Power Kingdom.” The mathy-yet-melodic counterpoint that guitarist Morgan von Ancken intertwines makes “Return to the Power Kingdom” one of the best tracks here. Crane also flexes his melodic muscle in the bass solo (!) in “Ducks.”

The band shows they know how to build tension with the aforementioned “Ducks,” and they show they can make a subdued tune with the Red Hot Chili Peppers-esque “Spreadsheets.” The dry vocal delivery deserves praise on “Spreadsheets,” as it sticks out in a pleasing way.

It’s hard to pick out specific reasons for why I like Built by Animals’ self-titled EP so much. They’re not doing anything even remotely groundbreaking, but they knock the songs out of the park. Their tunes are energetic, melodic and smile-inducing without being saccharine or pandering; it’s hard to knock a band that can pull that off. I eagerly anticipate what Built by Animals will do next; they’ve established a solid foundation and can go in many directions. Onward and upward! For fans of Phoenix, Strokes, The Cribs, Bishop Allen, and other New York guitar-rock bands. - Independent Clauses

Having just released an EP entitled Corporate Syndrome, Built By Animals is ramping up to get off the ground. They have an intriguing sound, managing to incorporate the up-tempo spirit of a band like Vampire Weekend (particularly on the intro to "Teenage Rampage") without the prozacy lyrics.

The song "Ducks" is beautiful with an almost submerged sound and sincere lyrics, and listening to "Return To The Power Kingdom" conjures up images of the opening montage of an Art House movie. The sincerity runs throughout the band’s lyrics and music. In spite of having a basic pop rock song structure, they seem to be more talented musically and have more depth than your typical “indie” band (if the term hasn’t completely lost its meaning), particularly a million other talentless hacks trying to emulate The Killers and failing. - Knocks From the Underground

If Brooklyn, NY isn’t ground zero for upstart indie bands these days, then I’ve got a certain bridge to sell you. Unlike the bulk of their borough brethren however, I can’t picture Built By Animals tripping over themselves to be the next Pitchfork.com poster children. Hipsters? Shmipsters I say. Not that I second guess their ambitions of course, but this trio are vying for something a little larger then their collective ego and a choice slot at SXSW.

BBA exude the type of songcraft that sounds like the product of a band with twice the personnel. More significantly their songs have a tendency to transition between near-cinematic grandeur to something, well, a bit more lackadaisical. This lends a slanted and enchanted irony to a selection like, say “Return to the Power Kingdom,” though said irony is in all likelihood unintentional. Built By Animals sonic aspirations are generally rooted in the same crooked headspace as recent Radiohead and Built to Spill, and that coveted strain of savviness alone has the potential to lure in scores of refined eardrums. On their eponymous ep, flourishes of limber, arpeggiated guitar licks abound – a facet not anomalous amongst their contemporaries, but the placement sounds wholly appropriate.

Unfortunately, Built By Animals catalog at present is a slim one, but physical copies of their ep are easily obtainable from the band, and all four songs can be streamed on their website and Myspace page, but for all you downloaders, you can grab two tracks directly below. Enjoy (or not). - Wilfully Obscure

“Do you believe in drugs?” asks singer Nick Crane, as the rest of his bands kicks into overdrive on Teenage Rampage off of Built By Animals new EP Corporate Syndrome. While song titles aren’t the only thing this simmering downtown trio borrow from Sonic Youth, they also re-appropriate the pop sensibility of The Strokes and, for better or worse, late period Chili Peppers (more on that later) into something engaging, real, and most importantly, fun. Return to the Power Kingdom kicks things off with a thundering tom roll and feedback before opening up into a cascading power pop blitzkrieg. The track does sound dulled by one too many click and drags through the Pro Tools ringer, but the raw spirit of a band that believes in themselves shines through making for an enjoyable if ultimately over processed endeavor.

Fortunately the band seems to have learned a thing or two behind the boards for the aforementioned Teenage Rampage. The opening riff jumps out of the speakers like an ecstatic adolescent who’s just finished his last day of school. The song continues to jump and weave around it’s center in a manor that’s both refreshing and natural. With many bands trying to do too much in one song, and so many others content to photocopy a single riff for three and a half minutes, it’s nice to hear a band who’s willing to stretch their legs for a track without losing sight of what they came to do in the first place.

If their is a failure here, it’s the bland Spreadsheets. While far from unlistenable, it comes off as underwritten and underwhelming compared to the rest of the EP. The band also does the song no favors by slotting it directly in front of the vastly superior and sonically similar Ducks, a ferocious swan song informed by the best of early Weezer and Doolittle era Pixies, there is a palpable sense of disillusion and remorse to the song, a difficult task that the band achieves thanks largely to the tightness and conviction of their playing, and the palpable humanity of Cranes vocals.

Built By Animals are a band on the rise, but a band still in search of their true voice. As I mentioned before, they rely a bit too heavily on some of Red Hot Chili Peppers latter day vices, and would do well to scale back, but not completely abandon, their falsetto harmonies. They send the final 30 seconds of Ducks soaring into the stratosphere, but bog down otherwise fine moments on Teenage Rampage and Power Kingdom. When the EP finished playing, iTunes kept playing the next band in my library alphabetically, Built To Spill. Formed in Idaho in the heady days of grunge’s initial explosion, they went from genre also-rans to one of the most unique and beloved bands of 1990’s indie rock. With a little more vision and a lot more hard work, I wouldn’t be surprised if Built By Animals carve their own unique passage in the still unwritten history of rock in the 10’s. - Protopia

A love of Busdriver and Young Prisms, combined with a Vasser College education is part of the description I received in an email from Built By Animals. Built By Animals make strong music, with complex accents. Each song has a pop song structure (verse, chorus, etc.), but each song also has its own character and identity. “The Return to the Power Kingdom” has a beautiful guitar part, that has a nice contrast to the jungle floor toms that enter the song moments later. Singer Nick Crane has a great voice, that really does wonders for each track. “The Return to the Power Kingdom” is so catchy, but it doesn’t try to be. It’s one of the first indie pop songs that has sounded actually genuine to me. Not just being catchy to make a hit, but being catchy because that’s how they heard the music in their collective head. The track also has a nice breakdown with awesome harmonies, something I will always enjoy. Chances are that if you have good harmonies, I will like your music. The song never builds back up from this breakdown. They could have maybe squeaked out one last chorus, but I’m glad they didn’t. The song started softly and ended softly, going full circle.

The second track I was sent is called “Elliot Smith.” Guitarist Morgan Von Ancken plays a funky line, reminiscent of something John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers would play in their glory days. This song has a dancy feel to it, with drummer Matt Graff playing a dance style beat along with the funky guitar line and soaring vocals. But as soon as the dancing started, it ended. The song goes into a heavy groove, trading 4’s with the dance pattern, until everything but the bass and vocals drop out. Once again, harmonies are present, and perfectly executed. A guitar joins the vocals, mocking the vocal line perfectly until the chorus comes back in one more time. Some hand claps are added which is a nice touch.

Keep your eyes open, because I have a feeling we’ll be hearing from these guys pretty soon. After all, they are from Brooklyn. - The Tape is Not Sticky