E.R. (a.ka. Eldridge Rodriguez) is a co-singer, co-songwriter, co-guitarist and founder of the Boston noise-rock outfit The Beatings. In 2005, he began a series of 8-track reel-to-reel recordings with Greg Lyon (Pending Disappointment, The Spanish Armada), shortly after The Beatings finished up work on their Holding on to Hand Grenades album. While recording what would eventually become his first solo work, E.R. began another project, writing, recording, and producing an album with his side project La Faccia Brutta, which features Greg Lyon and Dennis Grabowski (The Beatings). This spring (while putting final touches on the Brutta record) E.R. finished his solo album, titled This Conspiracy Against Us, and began playing shows in Boston with his backing band, "The New Jerseys," which features Lyon, Willie Dale Scales (Spanish Armada), Dan Parlin (previously w/ Justin Kehoe of Tom Thumb, Migration Trap) on drums, and sometimes Kamiko Darrow (La Faccia Brutta). The shows were well-received, and un-mastered, leaked copies of the album have been heard being played by rock club DJs and circulating around Boston and NYC. This Conspiracy is a 14-track noise-pop epic that jumps from noise-drenched piano ballads to sad, noise-drenched acoustic guitar and harmonica numbers, to straight-forward noise rockers, without losing the recording's common emotional thread. Early reviews of the disc have compared it to everything from Warron Zevon fronting The Fall to Glenn Branca jamming with The Bad Seeds. "This Conspiracy..." was produced by E.R., Greg Lyon, and Ray Jeffery, and features guest vocals by Sarah Borges and Erin Dalbec (The Beatings). Pour yourself a stiff drink, make a list in your head of everyone who has done you wrong, sit back and enjoy the soothing sounds.
E.R. has since released an online only EP titled; "... And The Thunder Chief," and just finished recording his Follow-up; "You Are Released" due out Fall of 2009.
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