ENEMY PLANES

When the hook to a song consists of the phrase, “Feel my life decaying,” you know you’re not exactly in for an Up With People-style celebration. And “We Want Blood,” the new single from Minneapolis’ Enemy Planes, doesn’t flinch from embracing a mournful, elegiac tone, masterfully capturing the sound of someone trying to see the light in the darkness, marking the passage of time. It’s the third track on their new album Beta Lowdown, which finds the group trafficking in downbeat and ethereal pop, fusing spare, guitar-driven music with elements of shoegaze, Massive Attack-style beats, and synth-laden darkness, as though Radiohead was covering songs by The Cure. It’s genuinely haunting—the music lingers with you long after the notes fade, impressing its discomfiting lyrics and melodies onto your brain.

The video for “Blood” reveals an equally eerie visual palette to match the track’s sense of impending collapse, as images suggest violence, death, but also, the slim possibility of rebirth. Singer Casey Call describes it thusly: “Above all else, ‘We Want Blood’ is really about embracing the frailty of our existence and celebrating the fleeting moments that we have. I really wanted to show how happiness and sorrow are so often interwoven, how in life there can be such a thin veil between love and heartache while recognizing that it’s not something one can totally understand. We wanted to do something that had an air of darkness and mystery to it while also embodying the simplistic beauty of the song. It’s always been fascinating to me how you can walk in one world, just a step ahead or behind of another, not knowing when those two contrasting universes might collide.” It’s not exactly hope, but it might be the closest Enemy Planes gets to such positivity.

Enemy Planes’ nonprofit record label, Rock The Cause, is donating a portion of the proceeds from Beta Lowdown to music charity Little Kids Rock. The band is going on tour this month to support the new album; the confirmed dates are listed below, with more to be announced in the coming days. - A.V. Club

ENEMY PLANES - comprised of former members from Solid Gold, G.A.Y.N.G.S., and Pictures of Then - premiere a compelling new song and video "Bare Your Teeth".

The Minneapolis-based band describe their sound as "tripnotic" and "Bare Your Teeth" is no exception.

Set on a bed of betwitching vocals, meandering bass, ghostly atmos, and propulsive beats reminiscient of In Rainbows-era Radiohead, it's easy to get lost in its web of beautifully interlocking components.

Speaking about the accompanying visuals that he directed, animated, and edited, frontman Casey Call says: "I’ve always been fascinated by stop motion animation, so this was a chance to try my hand at the art form. I didn’t realise until I really got into it the insane amount of still photos that it would take to pull off.

"All told, it ended up being well over 6000 photos to shoot and edit to create the animation. I was living in a small downtown Saint Paul loft at the time and the only space I had to shoot it was on the island in my kitchen. Long story short, I ate out for three months and it was an excuse to play with dolls.”

ENEMY PLANES' album Beta Lowdown is released on 25 March. - The Line Of Best Fit

“Enemy Planes, a tight indie-rock outfit from Minnesota. Echoes of M83, Foster the People, and acid jazz created a canvas for frontman Casey Call’s vocal lines to float above a sonic storm. The band cast spells on its audience, aided by their futuristic use of traditional electric lap-steel sounds. As they gave up the stage, Enemy Planes left a final note hanging as a postscript to a beguiling set, delivered with precision and conviction by a kick-ass band.” - REVERBNATION.COM

“Twin Cities indie-rockers shrugged off any hipster idealogy and have been duly rewarded as a result. The Radiohead-flavored sexted is headed to Barcelona later this month entirely at the expense of Hard Rock Cafe after being named one of six finalists - out of a purported 13,000 entries - in a battle of the bands taking place July 23 during Spain’s Hard Rock Rising festival, featuring Kings of Leon and Avicii.”
— STAR TRIBUNE / CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER - STAR TRIBUNE

They have rocked St. John's Block Parties, Thursdays on First sets, private parties across our area, and a host of gigs around the world.

And coming up next Friday, March 4, two of Rochester's favorite visiting bands, Cloud Cult and Enemy Planes, team up for a double billing at Mayo Civic Center's Presentation Hall.

Cloud Cult, the headliners, play experimental chamber rock with lyrics that touch on philosophical and spiritual issues, while opening act Enemy Planes plays a dreamy mixture of indie rock and electronica they have dubbed "tripnotic." Both are based in the Upper Midwest — Cloud Cult from Viroqua, Wis., by way of Duluth, and Enemy Planes from Minneapolis.

Craig Minowa, lead singer of Cloud Cult, pens deep, honest, and soul-baring lyrics, many of which are an attempt to find answers about the unexpected loss of his 2-year-old son in 2002. The band's deep tunes are unpacked onstage with a complex live show that features nearly two dozen instruments and a pair of live painters interpreting the music in a visual way.

"We treat every performance like a spiritual ritual and seek to have some kind of catharsis during the course of the evening," Minowa said.

That spiritual catharsis is a draw for many Cloud Cult fans.

"It will be epic to say the least," said Ryan Keller, a fan of the band since he and his wife moved to Rochester from the Dakotas. He first heard them at St. John's Block Party. "I know if people are going to see them for the first time, they will become a new fan of the band as well," he said.

Cloud Cult's forays into visual expression are expanding past their renowned stage show. With the release of their latest album, "The Seeker," earlier this month, they also produced a full-length film of the same name. Josh Radnor of "How I Met Your Mother" fame, was involved in the production and the band is gearing up to tour the film around film festivals over the next year.

"We've had a few albums with story-lines tied to them, but this is the first one where we decided to tackle that story in film," Minowa said.

According to Enemy Planes drummer Joe Call, his band has a handful of new songs to debut at the show, along with cuts from their debut album, "Beta Lowdown," which gets a worldwide release on March 26 on Rock the Cause Records.

Fans like Keller appreciate the "home-grown" aspect of the bands, and says knows people willing to drive four hours to see Cloud Cult.

"It's like seeing old friends each time you see the guys," Keller said.

Both bands have a special relationship with Rochester. Minowa's father's family lives just outside Rochester, and a portion of the band grew up in nearby communities, including Owatonna (Minowa, his wife Connie Minowa, and painter Scott West), Austin (violinist Shannon Frid), and Waseca (drummer Jeremy Harvey). The band played three times at the St. John's Block Party and have been back for other occasions. Similarly, Enemy Planes has a history with the Block Party, and recently played a few private house parties here.

"Whenever we get to come back it truly does feel like we're coming home to see family. We just love the people," said Enemy Planes lead vocalist, guitarist and synth player Casey Call. "We've been all over and it's not always as easy to find places like this as one might think. For our money, we think everywhere should be a little more like Rochester."

"After the show, the folks at Grand Rounds invited us in for a beer and we ended up staying all night. Lifelong friends were made for sure," says Enemy Planes vocalist and keyboard player Kristine Stresman. - Post-Bulletin, Rochester

“An impressive array of music hit Target Field on Friday night for Go Fest ‘15. Photographers Mike Madison and Darin Kamnetz were on site to document Matt and Kim, Cold War Kids, Yelawolf, MS MR, Big Data, Meg Myers, Allan Kingdom, and Enemy Planes performing with the Minneapolis skyline behind them.” - GO963MN.COM

In this day and age, discovering an amazing new band is kind of like spotting a unicorn. At first you can't believe it's real. Then, you have to keep following it to find out a. why it's here and b. where it's going. This, my dear readers, is exactly how I felt when I saw up-and-coming Minnesota band, Enemy Planes open for the Meat Puppets last Saturday. The experience? An understated performance filled with haunting lyrics, evocative vocals, and hypnotic melodies. Each song within their set was as captivating as it was well crafted—equal parts technically substantive and innovative. Even more poignantly, every single song performed was actually good, which is a true rarity—especially for a band that first debuted a little over a year ago. Their pared down, no frills approach to performing was extremely refreshing in an era characterized by excesses of "performance art" and overproduced DJ sets. Enemy Plane's musical prowess alone is more than enough to hold the attention of the crowd. Aside from the occasional "Who is this?" " Who are they?" "What's their name?"—the "city that never sleeps" ran out of things to say for a solid 45 minutes. All we could do was listen. However, I really shouldn't have been surprised. If the Meat Puppets (in my opinion, one of the most visionary bands of all time) invited them on tour, they have to be something special. Don't take my word for it? Don't worry. In six months this band will be everywhere, so I encourage you to listen to their debut single "We Want Blood," right now. - Madame Ostrich

Though I don't know much about these guys, I know they definitely caught my attention...they're on my 'to download' list when I get back home for sure. - HEAVE MEDIA

Wanna know what the next big Minneapolis band is? Ten bucks it's Enemy Planes, a moody little band that sounds like the best Brit-obsessed psych band from 1985 crossed with skittering modern indie with a touch of lo-fi electronics stirred in. Their forthcoming album, Beta Lowdown, is filled with mysterious little songs with a dark heart, and is as good as anything "local" you've heard in the last couple years, though don't expect 'em to stay contained by our fair cities for long. Dunno much about them other than that they feature Shön Troth (formerly of Solid Gold) and members of Pictures of Then — and that anonymity is the way they seem to like it, at least so far, despite a star-making turn at SXSW last year. - L'etoille Magazine

Enemy Planes formed out of the ashes of the acclaimed Minneapolis indie rock quartet, Pictures Of Then, and are set to release their debut album, Beta Lowdown, sometime in early 2013. The first taste from the new record is a dynamic one, as the hypnotic pulse of "We Want Blood" is a promising teaser of what is to come from the band. The video, directed by the distinguished Tobias Strech (Radiohead, Efterklang, Post War Years) is a striking, somber glimpse of the devastating destruction levied by hurricane Sandy on the East Coast. The clip was shot in Coney Island in the direct aftermath of the storm, and it provides haunting visuals that serve to enhance the desperation of the highly evocative song itself. - City Pages

Their influence is clear: the production resembles Radiohead with a little bit of a darker twist. Sure, throwing Radiohead comparisons around is always risky, but I wouldn't knock 'em for it. With the sampler, the fourth cut is particularly impressive and soars through a brilliant guitar riff. The fifth clip showcases the vocals of this project, at once melodic and hoarse. - The Current

If you haven't yet gotten the memo, Pictures of Then - an underrated local band, despite their commercial success - has added a member and rebranded into Enemy Planes. Though their pop-rocking MTV appeal - which led to songs featured on "16 and Pregnant" and "The Hills" - has been swapped for moodier, Yorke-ian soundscapes, there's new depth and it builds anticipation for their forthcoming debut, "Beta Lowdown." Tonight, Enemy Planes will unveil its brag-worthy video for single "We Want Blood." Directed by Tobias Stretch (Radiohead, Efterklang), the video was shot on Coney Island in the eerie aftermath of Sandy. - vita.mn