Chris Fallon
06/27/08, 11:48 PM
They Found Me, They Named Me - Ship As State (EP)
Record Label: Verse In Transit Records
Release Date: May 2008
Who?
Hailing from Batavia, IL, the experimental indie-rock quartet They Found Me, They Named Me have taken a versatile influential pallet to bring one of the year’s most enduring EPs, Ship As State, to life. Dominated by Chris Geick’s passionately-strained vocals and Andy Schroeder’s unrelenting percussive fortitude, guitars take second-billing to flowing bass rhythms and electric piano melodies. They Found Me, They Named Me has not only created a lavish soundboard for themselves, but has crafted a five-track EP that leaves you hungry for more.
How is it?
Twelve minutes has never seemed quite as epic as it does on Ship As State, where no track goes over the three-minute mark, yet demonstrates an ample amount of versatility, weaving in and out of musical territories, remaining unpredictable and lush all at the same time. Geick sounds like he is singing into a Playskool recorder most of the time, emphasizing his incredibly fanatical vocals (“Chucole”) over the peppy Rhodes piano provided by Matt Lemke, who pushes his guitar-playing to the background for a majority of the time. “See It” follows a bouncy bass line, courtesy of Brandon Souba, and Schroeder presents a cascade of percussive elegance all under two-and-a-half minutes, as Geick viciously remarks, “You never see it the way I see it / To understand.” “Stroke Radio,” a vocally-charged number with an organ refrain that sounds like the distant cousin of Derrick & The Dominoes’ classic “Layla,” is the record’s longest cut, reaching barely under the three-minute mark. The perplexing thing is, these songs don’t feel at all rushed - they are carefully punctuated to create depth and bloom from one another.
Ship As State is short of perfection, though, as Geick’s domineering vocals sound almost too much like Graham Fink’s (The Outline) as the record comes to a close, and when he gently hushes into the microphone, it’s eerily similar to early Dustin Kensrue (Thrice). Nonetheless, it's forgivable - however, Geick’s strikingly similar vocal pattern is what prevents the record from soaring as high as it should. While a plethora of bands relay this experimental sound, They Found Me, They Named Me is skillful and intelligent, providing lush orchestrations to distract listeners from the familiarity (for those who listen to The Outline, at least) of Geick’s vocals.
All in all, the band masters the art of the perfect strategy for an EP: leaving your audience just unsatisfied enough to the point that they eagerly anticipate more.
The Outline, Cave In and At The Drive-In
1. Paintchips
2. See It
3. Stroke Radio
4. Interlude
5. Chucole
Band:
Chris Geick: vocals
Andy Schroeder: drums
Matt Lemke: guitar/electric piano
Brandon Souba: bass
Official MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/theyfoundmetheynamedme); Official Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/they-found-me-they-named-me/24483518360)
Record Label: Verse In Transit Records
Release Date: May 2008
Who?
Hailing from Batavia, IL, the experimental indie-rock quartet They Found Me, They Named Me have taken a versatile influential pallet to bring one of the year’s most enduring EPs, Ship As State, to life. Dominated by Chris Geick’s passionately-strained vocals and Andy Schroeder’s unrelenting percussive fortitude, guitars take second-billing to flowing bass rhythms and electric piano melodies. They Found Me, They Named Me has not only created a lavish soundboard for themselves, but has crafted a five-track EP that leaves you hungry for more.
How is it?
Twelve minutes has never seemed quite as epic as it does on Ship As State, where no track goes over the three-minute mark, yet demonstrates an ample amount of versatility, weaving in and out of musical territories, remaining unpredictable and lush all at the same time. Geick sounds like he is singing into a Playskool recorder most of the time, emphasizing his incredibly fanatical vocals (“Chucole”) over the peppy Rhodes piano provided by Matt Lemke, who pushes his guitar-playing to the background for a majority of the time. “See It” follows a bouncy bass line, courtesy of Brandon Souba, and Schroeder presents a cascade of percussive elegance all under two-and-a-half minutes, as Geick viciously remarks, “You never see it the way I see it / To understand.” “Stroke Radio,” a vocally-charged number with an organ refrain that sounds like the distant cousin of Derrick & The Dominoes’ classic “Layla,” is the record’s longest cut, reaching barely under the three-minute mark. The perplexing thing is, these songs don’t feel at all rushed - they are carefully punctuated to create depth and bloom from one another.
Ship As State is short of perfection, though, as Geick’s domineering vocals sound almost too much like Graham Fink’s (The Outline) as the record comes to a close, and when he gently hushes into the microphone, it’s eerily similar to early Dustin Kensrue (Thrice). Nonetheless, it's forgivable - however, Geick’s strikingly similar vocal pattern is what prevents the record from soaring as high as it should. While a plethora of bands relay this experimental sound, They Found Me, They Named Me is skillful and intelligent, providing lush orchestrations to distract listeners from the familiarity (for those who listen to The Outline, at least) of Geick’s vocals.
All in all, the band masters the art of the perfect strategy for an EP: leaving your audience just unsatisfied enough to the point that they eagerly anticipate more.
The Outline, Cave In and At The Drive-In
1. Paintchips
2. See It
3. Stroke Radio
4. Interlude
5. Chucole
Band:
Chris Geick: vocals
Andy Schroeder: drums
Matt Lemke: guitar/electric piano
Brandon Souba: bass
Official MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/theyfoundmetheynamedme); Official Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/they-found-me-they-named-me/24483518360)