Album Notes

The band combines driving beats, cutting guitars and large-hearted vocals on its first record, at times recalling the deconstructed pop of Spoon and Broken Social Scene, at others, "The Bends"-era Radiohead--all while inducing unabashed, closed-eyed swaying in its listeners. Crash Tender was recorded by band members Damon Cook (bass), Adiro Patten (drums) and Greg Tebbano (guitar, vocals) over the period of a year in their Saratoga Springs practice space and finds the band augmenting their live guitar attack with pianos, horns and 8-bit synths. Post-production was handled by Ryan Ghent, who has worked on other Sub-Bombin projects including Rawhead’s Beatwise and Alchemy (2008).

Lyrically, the songs are subversive stabs at the ruling class, though on first listen break more towards the poetic than the political. The defining “Labour” is a stoic march, not into battle but against the very idea of it. “Man of Action” ponders a bank robbery and finds its down-on-his-luck protagonist making off with the cash to the soundtrack of a two trumpet salute.

Firefighter Font is excited to partner with the increasingly eclectic Sub-Bombin Records for the release. Originally known for its beatmakers and MCs, Sub-Bombin’s roster of artists has expanded to include the experimental (Pandha Piranha, Ghoul Poon) and electro-pop (Birthdays, Phantogram). Firefighter Font shares the label’s emphasis on community and mutual support making the alliance a logical progression.