The World War I's

Top 100 Songs of 2013. - Rollo & Grady

Graduation. This is something we’ve had an experience or five with in our young-ish lives. We graduated from University once upon a time. We graduated from our parent’s loft to, well, our own privately-rented loft. We graduated from being one of those constantly-living-in-our-overdraft-life-sponges (yeah, we know what most of you lot get up to, with ya thousand-dollar lifestyles on ya hundy-dollar incomes. We INVENTED that shit). This is a recurring theme for us in several different artist-related contexts. However, in this context, we’re using the word in a very different sense. We’re seeing quite a few people we’ve been lucky enough to be associated with in the last year-and-a-bit essentially go on to achieve great things – and admittedly it’s a little bit sad, but really we’re just chuffed for our friends who richly deserve everything that’s happening to them at the moment, mainly by virtue of writing great tracks so emotive that they make you shit, and working their arses off constantly to make that shit look easy for people like you and I. On that note, our heartiest congratulations to our buddies Dan Croll and Royal Blood; the former for playing probably the best show we’ve personally witnessed to date (and following various rekkid dealz in various places), and the latter who have clearly signed to some major label today and are making us all angsty by not telling us who it is. Perhaps we know already, perhaps we don’t. Not the point. The chaps done real good, and in all likelihood will continue to do so. Speaking of bluesey rock and roll types, new New York guys The World War I’s seem to be doing just fine themselves on that front, if double-whammy Track Of The Day efforts Psyche Assay and/or Lost Cosmonauts are anything to go by. Skimming over information available on various social networks much like a pebble stone across rough waters before it plunges a million feet down into a waterfall of “we’re terrible at internet-based research”, we’ve learned that these guys recently toured in their native US of A culminating in a few appearances at CMJ in October. Which we didn’t go to. Again. Perhaps as a differentiation to the Royal Bloods and The Family Rains of late – although clearly sharing a similar soundscape – there is something inherently 50's/60's R’n'B about this stuff, giving a flavour of music that lends itself more to White Stripes and/or Kings Of Leon bashing up with Led Zeppelin and/or White Denim. We dare you to try not head-nodding to this. - Killing Moon

Graduation. This is something we’ve had an experience or five with in our young-ish lives. We graduated from University once upon a time. We graduated from our parent’s loft to, well, our own privately-rented loft. We graduated from being one of those constantly-living-in-our-overdraft-life-sponges (yeah, we know what most of you lot get up to, with ya thousand-dollar lifestyles on ya hundy-dollar incomes. We INVENTED that shit). This is a recurring theme for us in several different artist-related contexts. However, in this context, we’re using the word in a very different sense. We’re seeing quite a few people we’ve been lucky enough to be associated with in the last year-and-a-bit essentially go on to achieve great things – and admittedly it’s a little bit sad, but really we’re just chuffed for our friends who richly deserve everything that’s happening to them at the moment, mainly by virtue of writing great tracks so emotive that they make you shit, and working their arses off constantly to make that shit look easy for people like you and I. On that note, our heartiest congratulations to our buddies Dan Croll and Royal Blood; the former for playing probably the best show we’ve personally witnessed to date (and following various rekkid dealz in various places), and the latter who have clearly signed to some major label today and are making us all angsty by not telling us who it is. Perhaps we know already, perhaps we don’t. Not the point. The chaps done real good, and in all likelihood will continue to do so. Speaking of bluesey rock and roll types, new New York guys The World War I’s seem to be doing just fine themselves on that front, if double-whammy Track Of The Day efforts Psyche Assay and/or Lost Cosmonauts are anything to go by. Skimming over information available on various social networks much like a pebble stone across rough waters before it plunges a million feet down into a waterfall of “we’re terrible at internet-based research”, we’ve learned that these guys recently toured in their native US of A culminating in a few appearances at CMJ in October. Which we didn’t go to. Again. Perhaps as a differentiation to the Royal Bloods and The Family Rains of late – although clearly sharing a similar soundscape – there is something inherently 50's/60's R’n'B about this stuff, giving a flavour of music that lends itself more to White Stripes and/or Kings Of Leon bashing up with Led Zeppelin and/or White Denim. We dare you to try not head-nodding to this. - Killing Moon

I turned you guys on to The World War I’s–a Brooklyn-based rock twosome–last year after they put out their Kickstarter-funded debut album (review here). The boys are back with their sophomore effort, Lost Cosmonauts, which continues and expands upon a lot of the styles explored on The Bite and The Boogie while also leaving some elements behind. The result is a more focused blast of pure, DIY raggedy rock and roll.
In an impressive display of full-scope craftsmanship and analog devotion, Lost Cosmonauts was recorded by the band (guitarist/singer Will Brown and drummer Sam Trioli) on 8-track tape in a farmhouse in New Hampshire. As such, the album is delightfully rough around the edges and the guitars and vocals stab forth with more fuzz than a clogged dryer vent (and are twice as likely to set your pants on fire!).
The album’s opening track, “World War Won,” kicks things off with a filthy, scuzzy, slightly foreboding guitar lick that sets a darker, heavier tone than the last record. In that same vein, “Blue Ribbon Child,”–perhaps the finest track here, possessing an utterly infectious groove–is a swaggering “fuck you” to the pressures of expectation, while “You Cut Like A Diamond Knife” lifts the iconic riff from The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun” and runs gritty sandpaper over it until it bleeds a metallic sheen.
Lost Cosmonauts isn’t all menace and clangor though. “A Billion Rubles” rolls along on a sly, lazy hook, while “October Manifesto” sounds like the band is launching into a modern take on “Surfin’ Bird.” Whether the music is grooving or dissonant, heavy or danceable, the album incorporates influences from two other well-known duos, with a slick blues sensibility reminiscent of the Black Keys and the thumping drumbeat-vocal interplay of the White Stripes. No matter the inspiration, the backbone of this record is the guitars–particularly the band’s signature fat, chunky tones that add muscle and weight.
Sure, there are a few tracks that fizzle out before they’re through, and “Sooner Or Later”–a bit too long to serve as an interlude–doesn’t really go anywhere until it’s almost over. But this album will hook you in with it’s bounty of riffs. The title track, which serves as a fitting conclusion to the record, builds into a sweet riff that sounds like it was ripped and shredded from a pile of scrap metal. Pair that with the lilting “ooh-oohs” and reverb-soaked peaks and valleys and you’ve got a hell of a calling card. Brown and Trioli are so talented that they don’t need to stick to any one stylistic game plan, but this is certainly a more focused album than its predecessor. It’s more restrained in what they’re willing to show off, and they’re working with a slightly smaller palette, but what is on display is generally top-notch and jagged as hell. - Suds On Bleeker

Live Daytrotter Session - Daytrotter

I turned you guys on to The World War I’s–a Brooklyn-based rock twosome–last year after they put out their Kickstarter-funded debut album (review here). The boys are back with their sophomore effort, Lost Cosmonauts, which continues and expands upon a lot of the styles explored on The Bite and The Boogie while also leaving some elements behind. The result is a more focused blast of pure, DIY raggedy rock and roll.
In an impressive display of full-scope craftsmanship and analog devotion, Lost Cosmonauts was recorded by the band (guitarist/singer Will Brown and drummer Sam Trioli) on 8-track tape in a farmhouse in New Hampshire. As such, the album is delightfully rough around the edges and the guitars and vocals stab forth with more fuzz than a clogged dryer vent (and are twice as likely to set your pants on fire!).
The album’s opening track, “World War Won,” kicks things off with a filthy, scuzzy, slightly foreboding guitar lick that sets a darker, heavier tone than the last record. In that same vein, “Blue Ribbon Child,”–perhaps the finest track here, possessing an utterly infectious groove–is a swaggering “fuck you” to the pressures of expectation, while “You Cut Like A Diamond Knife” lifts the iconic riff from The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun” and runs gritty sandpaper over it until it bleeds a metallic sheen.
Lost Cosmonauts isn’t all menace and clangor though. “A Billion Rubles” rolls along on a sly, lazy hook, while “October Manifesto” sounds like the band is launching into a modern take on “Surfin’ Bird.” Whether the music is grooving or dissonant, heavy or danceable, the album incorporates influences from two other well-known duos, with a slick blues sensibility reminiscent of the Black Keys and the thumping drumbeat-vocal interplay of the White Stripes. No matter the inspiration, the backbone of this record is the guitars–particularly the band’s signature fat, chunky tones that add muscle and weight.
Sure, there are a few tracks that fizzle out before they’re through, and “Sooner Or Later”–a bit too long to serve as an interlude–doesn’t really go anywhere until it’s almost over. But this album will hook you in with it’s bounty of riffs. The title track, which serves as a fitting conclusion to the record, builds into a sweet riff that sounds like it was ripped and shredded from a pile of scrap metal. Pair that with the lilting “ooh-oohs” and reverb-soaked peaks and valleys and you’ve got a hell of a calling card. Brown and Trioli are so talented that they don’t need to stick to any one stylistic game plan, but this is certainly a more focused album than its predecessor. It’s more restrained in what they’re willing to show off, and they’re working with a slightly smaller palette, but what is on display is generally top-notch and jagged as hell. - Suds On Bleeker

Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood just might be the dirtiest place in New York City. Decades of industrial use, sewage overflow and even alleged mafia body-dumping have transformed the district’s central canal into an oil-slicked, opaque slurry that only the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could love. Despite recent cleanup and reconstruction efforts, many of the buildings alongside “Brooklyn’s Venice” remain abandoned or, at the very least, charmingly dingy. In other words, it’s the perfect place to start a grimy, no-frills rock ‘n’ roll band.

But even though the punk-infused rock duo the World War I’s (pronounced “World War Is”) may call Gowanus home as a musical entity, the story actually begins in the cleaner, more cosmopolitan streets of Manhattan. In the fall of 2010, guitarist/singer Will Brown made every college musician’s dream a reality, using bits of acoustic paneling from a Columbia University lecture hall to transform his dorm room into a recording studio. There, the Massachusetts native crafted the burly, brawny rock tracks comprising what is now considered to be the band’s debut EP (titled Das EP in true collegiate rebel fashion, a nod to ol’ Marx).

Drummer/organist Sam Trioli, a native New Hampshirian who was playing in a bluegrass-cum-glam-rock band in Brooklyn at that time, stumbled upon the EP one day. Feeling an instant connection, he invited Brown to open for his band. The team-up was such a success that the two began sneaking into rehearsal studios, causing trouble and making music about the whole deal. By late 2011, the World War I’s had released the 20 Days EP and was slowly but surely building an audience with its infectious strain of scuzzy blues rock. “Are you guys sweating as much as I am?” Brown laughed at a recent Cake Shop gig, to a response of cheers. This is a band that isn’t afraid to get dirty.

The new year sees the World War I’s preparing to release a full-length debut and playing gigs in towns from “Maine to Mexico.” Even without an LP, the duo has the crowd-pleasers covered: reverb-y, psychedelic jams (“Psyche Assay”), adrenaline-pumping, surf-rock hurricanes (“20 Days,” “Heart Attack”) and even sensitive country-tinged ballads (“It Hurts To Be A Man Alone”). Trioli’s thunderous rhythms are a perfect counterpart to Brown’s honeyed tenor and blistering blues riffs: Think the Black Keys, roughed-up and ready for a fight but equally prepared for sweet talking that femme fatale at the bar.
- CMJ.com

New single from The World War I's - Rollo & Grady

Welcome to our new feature, the Weekly Download! Rather than confuse you with five weekdays worth of random tracks, we are now featuring all of those complely free and legal tracks sent to us by the artists themselves for download once a week, albeit more all at once! We hope you enjoy our weekly submissions.

We chose these songs for you to discover, download and explore more about the artists behind them. Please support the artists by visiting their artist links next to each of the MP3s. - Music Under Fire

Welcome to another amazing month of music from the incredible musicians that make up the Sonicbids.com community. We have chose a select group of amazing musicians that will be speaking directly to the Skope readers. As always we encourage readers to dig deeper and check out their EPK’s. - Skope Magazine

Everyone wants to get in on the ground floor for hot young bands. Well, here’s your opportunity.

Brooklyn by way of New England band The World War I’s have released their debut full length album, The Bite and The Boogie, with help from a successful Kickstarter campaign – and infectious tunes.

A two man unit of sound – guitarist/singer Will Brown and drummer Sam Trioli – The World War I’s pound out the type of dirty, retro, and playfully rambunctious music that has been championed on the charts recently by the likes of another two man band – The Black Keys.

The first thing that caught my ear on this album was the production quality. For a couple guys without a record contract looking to put out their first record, the result far exceeded my expectations. Recorded on an 8 track reel to reel player and produced by the band themselves, The Bite and The Boogie nails that slightly fuzzy, ragged classic garage rock sound without ever becoming sloppy or offputting.

It’s easy to spot the influences – roughed up blues, Cali surf guitar lines, Johnny Cash-like country interludes, and punk-ish expertly bridled aggression that rears its exclamatory head at climactic moments and then recedes back into the foot tapping, body shaking grooves. Brown’s voice is charmingly suited to all the different roles it plays here – from swaggering rogue to introvert; from tongue in cheek joker to howling man scorned. That kind of versatility makes for a wonderfully diverse album.

If rock radio wasn’t taking its last desperate swirls around the toilet bowl, this is the music I’d expect to hear as the up and coming talent. One listen to songs like “You’re Gonna Need Something Wet” and “Down in Waco” will have you tapping your foot (if you’re not on your feet dancing along) and hooked. Awesomely (and smartly), the band has made this whole album available to stream on Soundcloud. Give it a listen, and if you like what you hear, pick up a copy on iTunes or Amazon. - Suds On Bleeker

Fini la rigolade, ces gars-là n'ont certes pas fait la Première Guerre mondiale, mais c'est tout comme. Produisant une musique que l'on aurait probablement dû diffuser sur les champs de bataille (best show ever?!), The World War I’s est un duo de Brooklyn à suivre de très près.

Après avoir sorti un premier EP en février 2011, c'est l'été dernier que Will et Same ont décidé de faire paraître un second, The Bite And The Boogie. Le single, "Psyche Assay", est le genre de titre que l'on n'oublie pas. Le son de guitare y est très heavy, façon Natural Child, The World War I’s n'est clairement pas là pour plaisanter. "Psyche Assay" est un titre plus inventif qu'il n'y paraît, une sorte de pièce d'Indie Rock à la limite d'un Garage bien plus nerveux. Un son de guitare à ce point graveleux ne pouvait clairement échapper à son article Still in Rock. La guerre est loin d'être finie mes amis, bien loin. - Still In Rock

In the spring of 2012, The World War 1's released their first full length, The Bite and The Boogie. We have only just got hold of it, but it has grabbed our attention with its full-on uptempo blend of garage-punk, surf-rock, rockabilly echoes and mighty fine songwriting.

They are currently recording our second full length which is due out in October of this year.

Visit their Bandcamp page where you can pick up the album on a pay-what-you-want deal. It includes the excellent singles Psyche Assay (six minutes of hypnotically propulsive guitars) and the staccato assault and Dinosaur Jr. style snarl of of Heart Attack. Highly recommended. - The Mad Mackerel

In the spring of 2012, The World War 1's released their first full length, The Bite and The Boogie. We have only just got hold of it, but it has grabbed our attention with its full-on uptempo blend of garage-punk, surf-rock, rockabilly echoes and mighty fine songwriting.

They are currently recording our second full length which is due out in October of this year.

Visit their Bandcamp page where you can pick up the album on a pay-what-you-want deal. It includes the excellent singles Psyche Assay (six minutes of hypnotically propulsive guitars) and the staccato assault and Dinosaur Jr. style snarl of of Heart Attack. Highly recommended. - The Mad Mackerel

In the cyclical nature of the universe, the ebbs and flows of the internetz, I haven’t come across much straight ahead rock ‘n roll lately. Maybe it’s a shift in the phases of the moon, or maybe the universe just knew I needed a kick in the ass this morning. Or maybe it’s because that incredible Japandroids record has finally wrapped up its own hypecycle.

This is the album closer on the Brooklyn duo’s debut album The Bite and The Boogie LP, out now. Video directed by Todd Rocheford and filmed in New York City. - yvynyl.com

http://www.rollogrady.com/rollo-grady-guide-to-cmj-2012-a-z/ - Rollo & Grady

http://www.rollogrady.com/rollo-grady-guide-to-cmj-2012-a-z/ - Rollo & Grady

http://www.rollogrady.com/100-best-songs-of-2012-recap/ - Rollo & Grady

http://www.rollogrady.com/100-best-songs-of-2012-recap/ - Rollo & Grady

http://heycoolkid.net/2013/01/12/hck-best-songs-of-2012-5/ - Heycoolkid.net

http://heycoolkid.net/2013/01/12/hck-best-songs-of-2012-5/ - Heycoolkid.net

Rollo & Grady's Top 30 New Artists Of 2012 - Rollo & Grady

http://www.nme.com/nme-video/youtube/id/kbuVu-QZ0Fo - NME.com