Music
Press
SPY THE THINKER—Northern NJ
Yes, once again, I am featuring two bands this week as it was a slow news updates week in my email inbox. Anyway, the singer/guitarist for a band called Spy The Thinker, Matthew, recently emailed me on MySpace after reading my feature a few weeks ago about the band Damn Glad. Matthew claims he did his research and hunted me down and decided to reach out. So, because of his efforts, I decided to check out his band Spy The Thinker via their MySpace page, myspace.com/spythethinker. They reminded me of an earlier Live-meets-The Dave Matthews Band on songs like “Skipping Stones,” “Lonely Only,” and “Nobody Buy Me,” which can be found on their recently-released debut CD, Ruby Kill Club. Spy The Thinker actually won me over with their live cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” which can only be heard on their MySpace page.
Spy The Thinker is a band that thrives on being independent and who strives on writing energetic music. They’re a rock trio trying to make a name for themselves rising up through the ashes of what is being considered the post-rock era. Their music has calm moments that explode into some wide grooves provided by a guy named Fatal on bass and a guy named Jayme on drums.
Spy The Thinker’s recently released debut CD, Ruby Kill Club, is a real indie rock record. The band named the CD after a childhood street where the band members grew up. You can hear tracks or buy their CD, Ruby Kill Club, on CDBaby.com/cd/spythethinker. You can also find out where these boys are playing next by logging onto myspace.com/spythethinker.
by Tim Louie - The Aquarian
Discography
"Ruby Kill Club" LP available now on itunes - including the track "Skipping Stones" aired regularly on Philadelphia's #1 Rock station 93.3 WMMR.
Photos
Bio
"Things are never what they seem to be," says Fatal, and while he is talking about the subject matter of Spy the Thinker's music, the same could be said of this quirky alt. quartet. Straddling a sprawling Indie rock community that spans from NY to Philly, this Jersey based band's music satisfies the varied tastes of its fans by incorporating elements from disparate genres and periods of music history. "But it always rocks, " says Price, the band's newest member who dispels the notion that a rock band has to be limited to just guitars, keyboards and drums. Between the ever challenging rhythms of Jayme Rivel's drums and the powerful groove of Fatal's bass, the low haunting submelodies of Price's baritone sax often scream through to counter the high energy and intensity of Matt's vocals and loose wrist guitar style. As the lead singer and lyricist of the band, Matt can both be seen on stage leading his bandmates into a frenzied state of high volume, high intensity musical mania, and also dropping them down into a low complex funk of beats, bass and brass, cut with the clarity of a syncopated bath of melody and texture in the vocals. "The music is written to move you... we refuse to have it any other way," says Matt, "We write songs about how life changes you and how you can change your life."
While the message of the lyrics is delightfully complex, the music itself will make you want to turn your brain off and get down. "We work hard on the live sound," says drummer Jayme Rivel. "We feed off of the crowd response, then give it back to them ten fold." Spy the Thinker's album, "Ruby Kill Club" (available now on itunes) is a ponderous ode to the complexity of music, but from start to finish its a fun album that can either make you think or get you on your feet.
"Remember," added Fatal, "nothing is what it seems."
Links
