Album Notes

Horsefeathers:

Jon Conine - Bass
Ben Erickson - Guitar & Lead Vocals
Dave Parmelee - Drums

The Two Dukes:

Danny Hite - Backup Vocals
Jacob Royer - Backup Vocals

Reviews:

New Haven Advocate -
Members of the Carlos Projeckt and the Vultures band together to deliver a high-octane album of slanted pop songs, pleasingly bristly in tone and brimming with memorable hooks. Ben Erickson sings as if he's at the end of his tether, and his razors-wrapped-in-cotton guitar is well contrasted by a pair of clear-voiced backup singers. Dave Parmelee is simply one of the most exciting drummers in town. The disc is well-sequenced, leading off with the most direct material (The Camera Loves You, one of the best pop songs from a New Haven band I've heard in years) and gradually becoming more frenetic, delving into sideways math-punk and some real chair-throwing moments. Calls to mind Superchunk, a faster Pavement, Weezer's Pinkerton and early Meat Puppets. And with 11 songs in 24 minutes, there's no time in which to lose momentum. Phew!


Hartford Courant -
The production is so lo-fi the band might have recorded the whole album in a tin shed using one microphone placed outside, but there's a ton of potential stuffed into this New Haven band's raw rock 'n' roll.


New Haven Register -
This New Haven-based band rocks, flat-out rocks. The trio is what every good band should be: loud and chugging guitars, catchy choruses, bouncy bass lines and pulverizing drums. Featuring the talents of Jon Conine, Ben Erickson and Dave Parmelee, Horsefeathers sounds like an unholy mix of Weezer, Pavement, early Soul Asylum and the Replacements.

Leading off with the dual lead guitar lines of "the camera loves you," Erickson’s voice sounds remarkably similar to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, but that’s where the art-rock comparisons end; this music doesn’t need any frills. It’s simple, driving and a mishmash of all that is good. The band doesn’t shy away from the occasional swear, but it’s not for the effect; these are the kinds of grinding tunes deserving of a celebratory curse.

There’s not a dud on this self-titled debut. Quite simply, though, this is an auspicious CD that’s as good as any straight-ahead, indie-rock disc I’ve heard over the last year — and I’m not including just local bands.