Album Notes

"The alone-again Anderson has combined the strengths of both (previous) discs into the gorgeous pop atmospheres on The Unfound sound -- his best work yet."--CMJ Weekly

"...the spare, carefully layered beauty of Skating Club's excellent new The Unfound Sound"--The Boston Phoenix

The Unfound Sound is Skating Club's third full-length and their first release on Kimchee. While Unfound retains the engaging experimental sonic elements and down-tempo indie pop charm of the previous critically acclaimed Skating Club records, the sound on this record pushes farther into the pop realm. It is bedtime music that will stay in your head the next day. It also might claim a stylistic place in the still somewhat unheralded canon of music flowing from Nick Drake to Red House Painters. The album's title plays a little on the difficulty of getting independent music out into the world.

Skating Club has always been part extended family and part pick-up soccer game. Members often come and go with different sessions and tours depending on everyone's schedule and needs. The essential player, however, has always been songwriter Aubrey Anderson. Aubrey's approach to The Unfound Sound was considerably different than on the last two records: this time he played almost every instrument himself and worked in relative isolation rather than collaborating with others as he has done in the past. The result is a more focused musical narrative that's as personal as a memoir. And for the listener, it's a musical experience as invigorating yet comforting as your morning cup of coffee.
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After the collapse of his seminal shoegazer band Difference Engine, Aubrey Anderson became disillusioned with creating music. Years of early nineties touring with the likes of The Fall and The John Spencer Blues Explosion had come to an end. So Anderson started a small indie studio in Boston and began recording local groups.

Some years passed and he formed a short-lived new band, The Westerlies, but when it broke up his focus once again shifted to the studio. During off hours Anderson would mess around with songs that had collected through the years, his music-making now more a personal passion. This was the music that had been sitting inside Anderson's mind for a long time, but was not going anywhere.

One of Wishing Tree Records' artists was recording with Anderson. While at the studio, Wishing Tree heard some of Anderson's songs. Instantly enamored, they offered to release his music. For the project Anderson chose to work alone with the studio as his main instrument, playing and arranging most of the material himself and creating what was for him his most honest songwriting to date.

On the way to the studio he would always drive by "The Skating Club of Boston" in Allston. The drive there was just as much a part of the environment as the studio itself. For that reason, the name stuck with him.

The first Skating Club album was released in late 2001 to rave reviews in the press, a gig opening for the Mission of Burma reunion show, and pressure on Anderson to release new material. In response he abandoned the "loner in the studio" approach and rushed out a more collaborative follow-up. Anderson now feels that although it helped to raise the level of awareness, the second album was a deviation from what made Skating Club special in the first place.

The Unfound Sound is back where Anderson wants to be. Whereas Anderson was successful with Difference Engine and the early incarnation of Skating Club, neither were accurate portraits of the songwriter he is. With the exception of one drum track, he completed the entire new record on his own, on his own time, and in his own way. The result is the inner dialogue of Aubrey Anderson, early nineties indie-rock refugee, and the songs that are his true voice.