Born from barroom conversations, North Carolina-based Aminal has evolved from a two-piece side project to what Raleigh’s Independent Weekly now refers to as “one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Chapel Hill during the backside of this decade.”
Founders Patrick O’Neill (The Honored Guests) and Cameron Weeks (Jennyanykind, the Comas) sought control of their own sound with Aminal. Infused with country twang, garage energy and blues lamentations, the band’s gritty timbre creates a strong sense of locality without losing sight of its pop sensibilities. Through hooks that build and drive with an urgent, frenetic energy, Aminal is at once instantly familiar yet irresistibly complex with multi-layered approaches that the Indy Week said, “easily disarm you and sweep you in with a multitude of charms.”
Following the addition of Joe Caparo on bass, Aminal has grown in its complexity, with luscious sounds, instantly engaging beats and a high-energy live show.
From softly sung verses to horsely-growled declarations, Aminal attaches the members’ personal experiences to songs of love, frustration, resentment, regret, loneliness and boredom. O’Neill displays a vulnerability that, when coupled with the explosive rhythm section of Caparo and Weeks (drums), shows confidant ownership of problems that once seemed so tough.
This past December, the band re-released its first two EP's—A Face to Fight and A Will to Fight (spring 2009)— as a single record, The Fight EPs. Aminal now approaches the release of their first full length record, Bang All Our Drums, in 2010— a mature and sonically complex record that still manages to retain the stripped down feel that makes it all so damn charming.
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