Music
Press
What do you get when you combine technical skills with loud sing-a-long choruses? Well, it would sound a little bit like Riley, a local Dayton, Ohio band consisting of Eric Bluebaum, Joey Kirby, Colin Pauley, and Chris Warman. Although most of the guys have played together before, the four piece regrouped and refocused in 2012 with a new outlook on both the music and the band itself.
The Cat of Nine Tails: Part One is the first step in this new direction. The plan is for a 3-part series of EP’s under The Cat of Nine Tails name, with each release containing new elements to the story. The songs work as individual “chapters” and combined the set will piece together the whole narrative while also getting as much music out as quickly and easily as possible. The group was able to transcribe stories Bluebaum had written from page to scale, with lyrics and themes lifted directly from the prose. The result is a unique blend of melody mixed with time-shifts that seem to creep up out of nowhere. Labels like “math rock” or “post-rock” could easily be thrown around to describe Riley’s music, but those terms just wouldn’t do it justice. Instead, the music is more like an eclectic grab bag of everything your ears have ever heard, and that’s what makes Riley so infectious.
The EP begins with the song “Chapter II: Looking Back”, and right away it displays all the best elements of Riley: loud, climatic singing backed by thick, luscious guitar that makes the shouting sound like it’s coming from the rooftops. The rhythm is hard, and the drumming matches the singing to a tee.
The next song, “Chapter III: Nomads”, opens with a storm of intricate guitar playing that seems to drizzle over you directly from the speakers. It showcases exactly what is meant by saying Riley is a technical band. They’re musicians who know exactly how to create complex music you can still find the beat to, and as you listen it’s easy to jump back in and get your head moving to the rhythm. It shows that audience participation is a must for this group of musicians, which should really be the goal of any good band. Luckily, Riley does a great job at living up to this belief.
On “Chapter VIII: Street Ten”, the EP’s closing track, each member of the group pulls together to give it their all on this upbeat finale. It’s an intense ending, but truth be told it’s certainly not over yet. This is just the start of The Cat of Nine Tails saga, and it’s also just the start of what Riley is doing as a band. With more music on the way and a handful of upcoming gigs, it’s the perfect time for these four guys to get a fresh start at something new, and that’s just what this EP is all about.
Be sure to check out the band’s Facebook page for up-to-date news and information, as well as thebandriley.bandcamp.com to purchase The Cat of Nine Tails: Part One EP. - It Sounded Sweet
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Riley is a four piece band based in Dayton, Ohio. The project was started in early February of 2012 by Eric Bluebaum, Joey Kirby, Colin Pauley, and Chris Warman.
Our upcoming EP is entitled Cat Of Nine Tails: Part One, the EP will be the first of three parts that tell a nonlinear narrative. Cat Of Nine Tails tells the story of a fictional character named Jonah as he faces the trials and tribulations of life, from early childhood until his death.
Our artistic goal as a band can be best described as similar to what the character Mick Kelly, from the novel “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter” by Carson McCullers, feels when talking about her “inner room”. Mick loves music, so much so, that in the novel she will sit outside people’s houses just to catch a few minutes of classical music on the radio. She plans on creating a violin from scratch with the materials she has gathered in her small town. Mick compartmentalizes her thoughts, the violin is kept in her “inner room” that only she and one other person have access to, almost everything else is kept in her “outer room”.
Over the course of the novel Mick eventually lost her ability to access her “inner room” and it devastates her spirit. The reason we make music in the first place is to access our own “inner rooms”. We also make music to allow other people in. If we were to stop making music we might lose our “inner rooms”, or equally as troublesome, we might be unable to share them with other people. In a society with troubles that seem to stem from a lack of empathy and understanding, we don't want to contribute to the problem.
Links
