The New Siberians

These guys are the newest guys on the block. I haven't seen The New Siberians live yet but their song "1965" has been spinning in my iPod a lot of the last month. Nothing fancy. Just a fuzzy but melodic guitar attack from this trio with a catchy chorus line.

http://extrawack.blogspot.com/2006/07/brooklyn-of-old-north-woods.html
- EXTRAwACK

NEW BAND ALERT!
Yep, I found yet another cool group to tell you about. Theyre called the New Siberians, and they rock in a satisfyingly unpretentious way.

The band is composed of three Vermont scene vets, including bassist vocalist Ted Pappadopoulos, guitarist/vocalist Brendan Devitt and drummer Simon Plumpton. Pappadopoulos logged time with Go to Blazes, Devitt was a member of Burlington/L.A. legends Ninja Custodian, and Plumpton has played with, well, everybody.

So what do they sound like? Kind of like a hybrid of The Replacements, Hüsker Dü and Velvet Underground. Their tune 1965 features awesome backwards guitar, Big Star-inspired vocals and a chugging, Sonic Youth-style rhythm section. Wow, I just named, like, five bands in a single paragraph! Anyway, I could easily see it becoming my summer theme song. Hear for yourself at: www.myspace.com/TheNewSiberians.

The band is currently busy recording its debut, but will take some time out for a live performance at Breakwater Café on Friday, June 30. Special guests include Ninja Custodian axeman Magoo, as well as Motel Browns Steve Dias, who will supposedly perform a Black Sabbath tune. Boy, did I pick the wrong week to take a vacation!


http://www.sevendaysvt.com/music.html - Seven Days Weekly

The New Siberians

Back in the 1990’s the rockers at Burlington, Vermont-based Big Heavy World and Good Citizen maintained an awesome connection with Boston. There was so much crossover that many muso-heads considered the two sister-cities, musically speaking. But for me it’s been years since I’ve traveled to Burlington to see live music. How long? Probably since the demise of the annual Burlington Music Conference, an event that Boston bands traveled to play, and where awesome Vermont bands like Chin Ho!, Zola Turn and Red Telephone won my heart. If The New Siberians are any proof, Burlington still boasts a spectacular local music scene. These gorgeous songs have rekindled my erstwhile desire to plug into the sonic emissions from that pretty college town on the side of a hill. Giving this band high marks is a no-brainer — new rock with no clunkers, supremely accomplished-sounding arrangements gorgeously providing housing for pristine vocals, blissful harmonies, trilling mandolin and just-right guitars. When they’re rocking, The New Siberians flaunt a definite Pixies influence, especially on the grittier “1965” and “In The Garden,“ which could have found a place beside “Where Is My Mind” from Surfer Rosa. At their quietest, The New Siberians are able to achieve an almost Fogelberg-esque ambiance — you know the nostalgic sense of time and place Fogelberg was able to evoke with songs like “Leader of the Band“? Check out “Colorblind,” a gently meandering, thoughtful plea for understanding. “Let me paint a portrait of living in my mind, you can choose the colors cause I am colorblind.” The harmonies are heartrending, use of a dreamy falsetto like a vice-grip wringing an emotional response. Same is true for “Powder,” another quieter, mandolin-driven track. The range of this band is impressive — I can’t think of another set of songs that drew forth a Fogelberg reference along with a Pixies reference! In the vocal tones and sophisticated arrangements I could even trot out a Walter Fagen comparison and be able to stand by it. If that surprises you, I found in their press kit another reviewer who hears Velvet Underground and Husker Du — this I didn’t hear at all, but all this shows is that this band is able to thwart a hackneyed, congealed “sounds like” descriptive for an original, fluid “newness” that’s theirs alone. A fine job, gentlemen. The New Siberians sound like The New Siberians, and long live The New Siberians. (http://www.thenewsiberians.com) (Review date: Sept 29 2007, Lexi Kahn)


- lowbudgetsuperhero.com

Composed of members of Activists/Dictators, Go To Blazes, Chin Ho! and Ninja Custodians, local alt-kings The New Siberians have been kickin’ it old-school in Burlington for a long time. Their self-titled debut bears the fruits of their collective labors — past and present — delivering melodic guitar-rock that evokes memories of fine pre-grunge alternative bands such as The Smithereens and The Replacements. - Dan Bolles - 7 Days - Vermont

De eerste full-CD van The New Siberians is onlangs titelloos op de markt verschenen. Deze groep wordt gevormd door 3 heren uit Burlington, Vermont, USA te weten Brendan Devitt, Simon Plumpton en Ted Pappadopoulos. Ze claimen gewone jongens te zijn met normale levensgewoonten die geloven dat de muziek een hulp kan zijn om verwarde geesten en gebroken harten een hart onder de riem te steken. Wie zijn wij om hen tegen te spreken? Het leven bestaat nu éénmaal uit verdriet en vreugde, waarbij wat realiteitszin en een lekkere frisse pint al heel wat ter verbetering kan bijdragen. Op dit debuutalbum brengen ze moderne pop- en rocksongs waarbij ik de jonge Beatles af en toe lijk terug te horen. In de 15 zelfgeschreven liedjes op deze CD valt voornamelijk de frisse productie afkomstig van Tom Dube op. Deze producer maakte naam en faam bij o.a. Richard Thompson, Marc Cohn en Juliana Hatfield. Hij laat dit drietal zich uitleven op de gitaren in enkele Pixies-achtige rocksongs zoals “Hearts”, “Happy Again”, “In The Garden”, “Vulture” en “Gasoline”. Maar er is ook wat hitgevoeliger werk terug te vinden in o.a. “Seeds & Stems”, “Speed Dial”, “Star” en “Really Doesn’t Matter”. Qua zangwerk leunen The New Siberians af en toe dichter aan bij de songs van Crowded House en op het vlak van de muziek bij Dan Fogelberg, vooral in “Colorblind”, een nummer waaruit ik vooral de volgende tekst probeer te onthouden: “Let me paint a portrait of living in my mind, you can choose the colors cause I am colorblind.” De mandoline wordt zelfs boven gehaald in het mooi gezongen rustigere nummer “Powder”. Rocksongs primeren op dit debuutalbum, maar mijn voorkeur gaat overduidelijk uit naar de rustigere songs waarin de vocale kwaliteiten van Brendan Devitt het best tot uiting kunnen komen.
(valsam) - ROOTSTIME.BE ( belgian review in dutch)

put on a fun show. Their sound is all over the place - pop-rock, classic rock, even a little Americana courtesy of a sweet-looking steel mandolin... - Burlington Free Press

"I don't write my songs at all/Like the way that you do," sings The New Siberians' Brendan Devitt. He's not kidding. This Burlington, Vermont trio which is comprised of former members of Go To Blazes and the Ninja Custodians, are one of those rare bands that aren't afraid to throw conventional songwriting principles aside and take big chances. That being said, The New Siberians' strategy is to bury themselves under inventive arrangements and then see if they can climb back out. The thing is, they always do. Filled with big, melodic rockers ("Seeds & Stems" and "Hearts") catchy mid-tempo numbers ("Hearts") and irresistible acoustic tracks ("Colorblind") the band's debut is an enervating brand of American rock and roll. Elsewhere, "Star" brings to mind a more muscular Crowded House; "Happy Again" is a crunchy blast of harmonic bombast and "Vulture" has an unbeatable bluesy swagger. With a cast of supporting musicians who throw in doses of saxophone, mandolin, violin and whatever else comes to mind (Bob Higgins' billed contribution is "secret guitars"), The New Siberians is a truly engaging listen. What makes this band so special is that even when the hooks are direct, like on "Gasoline" there's always a presiding musical chaos that makes every track layered in intriguing sonic complexity.

author of

Stone Roses (33 1/3 )
ISBN 0826417426 - Alex Green