PT Walkley
...And the Adventures of Track Rabbit
Blending '60s influences with post-punk guitar sounds, this band's sound has been described as "The Kinks covering The White Album". However, this is as modern a rock record as you will find. Its melodies will haunt you well into your future.
BREAKING PT NEWS...
New double LP: "Mr. Macy Wakes Alone" comes out 1/27...
Interconnecting story-songs couched in string quartets, pedal steel, saws, harps, flutes, horns and choirs. Stellar performances by Sean Lennon, Larry Campbell, Trina Shoemaker and David Campbell to name a few.
Wednesday, December 3, catch PT's live performance of "Somebody" during the premier of Elvis Costello's new show "Spectacle" on Sundance Channel!
...Hear and pre-order "Mr. Macy Wakes Alone" at www.ptwalkley.com
From the very first stabs of "Up The Walls", to the haunting refrain rounding out "Lower Than The Ocean", this record will captivate you. It will stun you, and leave you with a head full of songs you won't believe you have been able to live without for so long.
PT Walkley is a prolific music maker from New York City. In addition to writing songs on a daily basis, he has also composed musical scores for several feature films, including three for award winning writer/director/actor Edward Burns. He also runs a company called Bathing Suit Music, which specializes in both film and commercial music. In addition to this project, Walkley fronts NYC favorites, The Blue Jackets.
As for 'PT Walkley and the Adventures of Track Rabbit'?
"...the songs had been collecting in my head, on four tracks and dictaphones over the last five years or so. i went through a lot different band members and finally found the right configuration. we're all very pleased with the sound of this thing, how it turned out." -PTW
REVIEW IN MAXIM!!
"The Beatles and The Kinks have influenced the sound of many bands, but only a few manage to sound different than their masters. PT Walkley is one of them. Its music will remind you of 60s rock but with good lyrics and a fresh and contagious sound."
REVIEW ON BLUES BUNNY, LONDON WEB ZINE:
Although there is a real retro 60's, pure pop feel from this offering by PT Walkley, he has succeeded in adding a bit of a modern twist to it as well as. The result is a sort of Kinks meets the Killers type of sound. And highly entertaining it is to.
"Up The Walls" that opens the album is the purest of pure up tempo pop music with a highly catch beat. "Overwhelming" on the other hand is a more 'aggressive' sounding and harder rocking number, and the highlight of the album. "Man About To Die" is another fine pop nugget with an infectious beat; while "Hillside" is a storming up tempo number that makes it one of the standouts of the album. Other particularly worthy efforts are "Oh By The Way" where we are treated to a more subtle and sophisticated sound, and "Along The Way" which has more of a psychedelic feel to it.
This is catchy, up tempo pop for the summer - one to play while driving to the beach with the top down. So buy the holiday, buy the car and then buy the CD to go with them!
REVIEW IN FRENCH 'ZINE "LES INROCKUPTIBLES":
Cet album aurait pu être un parfait disque pour hippies nostalgiques si deux guitares incisives ne s’étaient pas mêlées de l’histoire de ce groupe new-yorkais au nom interminable. Résultat : un son sixties imbibé d’embardées rocambolesques et stridentes, les Kinks roulant une pelle magistrale aux Beatles.
Au rock crasseux et acéré encore vivace, les Track Rabbit (leur ancien nom) rétorquent des mélodies arc-en-ciel ponctuées de messages prophétiques (Lovely World), d’hymnes universels bardés d’insouciance (Make Believe) et de complaintes amoureuses désemparées (Up the Walls, Without You).
Ces musiciens schizophrènes suivent la piste toute tracée de leurs aînés sans pour autant tomber dans le piège insidieux du copier-coller. Un tour de passe-passe mystérieux, qui transforme le moindre lapin traqué en chasseur armé.
REVIEW IN JEZEBEL MAGAZINE, NYC:
Insisting that the 60s were the greatest period of Rock and Roll and that the Beatles were the pinnacle of everything may hold some weight, but accusing new bands of following in the footsteps of their elders is a bit unfair. It's kind of like accusing Stephen Hawkings of ripping off Einstein. Who cares? The laws of the universe weren't invented, they were discovered. The same applies to the laws of music. The Beatles were geniuses, but the best you can say about them is that they brilliantly discovered the inevitable. If you're heading into quantum physics, you need to be smart. If you're going to pay musical homage and do it well, you've got to be talented. PT Walkley is very, very talented.
The new CD, entitled PT Walkley and the Adventures of Track Rabbit, is filled with all sorts of goodies, drawing from the Fab Four as well as Big Star, the Kinks, Cheap Trick…you know the drill. But you may not have heard it sound this good. Radio Jezebel features "Oh By the Way" and if you click on the link, you can hear what I'm talking about. Songs like "Overwhelming" fuse Revolverisms to some great anti-war lyrics. "Man About to Die" ends with the hilarious line "the bathtub's getting warmer / and I hope someday she hears this song and cries." PT Walkley is a clever songwriter who has made a record worthy enough to sit by your Kinks CDs. You can buy it at the show tonight. Or here: PT Walkley and the Adventures of Track Rabbit
ARTICLE FROM "ARTISTS I LOVE" (www.artistsilove.com)
BANDS A PLENTY
The Adventures of P.T. Walkley
by Lea G.
I am very skeptical these days regarding today’s music. As a person who has enjoyed, sold, written about and managed music, I find that there are too many bands out there that lack a special sound that separates them from all the rest. I keep waiting for the next great movement in music, specifically in rock. As for the song writing, many songwriters are pigeon-holed into
the typical acoustic sound that does not allow for a band to get together and really represent. But, my appetite has finally been satiated with the music of a wonderfully talented local musician by the name of P.T. Walkley. P.T is the perfect example of today’s great musician, the ultimate multi-tasker whose credits include commercials jingles, several songs on the The Groomsmen soundtrack, which stars and is directed by Edward Burns. As a matter of a fact, he recently became the composer for several scores for Edward Burns’ current films. As if he wasn’t busy enough, he is also the lead singer and guitarist for two bands, The Blue Jackets and Track Rabbit.
If you are on the search for the next great band, your quest is finally coming to an end. I am a very big fan of Walkley's bands, both hailing from Long Island NY. I recently caught a performance of The Blue Jackets at Crash Mansion on Manhattan's Lower East side. When I walked through the door, I realized I had been here before. Usually this space is a club with the typical DJ set-up, beautiful people. I wondered how it would handle this very different crowd. Well, I looked around and saw the beautiful people and this time I noticed the intimate stage. And there they were. Let me tell you, these guys rocked and proved “Who needs a DJ!” Not only was this true, but this is also one of the songs they played that night, from their album called “Shadows of the City”. Ironically, when I heard this song it made me go beyond head-bopping and I danced, during the whole performance. It was so refreshing to see a band that has so many songs with hooks and believe me, once you checked them out, you’ll think that you have heard them before. Their song “Four Cheers” is just one of those songs. When I heard it for the first time, I thought I was listening to a song that was on the radio for at least a few years. It’s catchy and fun and makes you think about a man who recognizes how much the love of his sweetie means without any of that mushy stuff. Not that there is anything wrong with mushy, but sometimes love is rock and roll. The thing that makes this band so very special
is that they aren’t just a rock band. They aren’t a typical punk band either. Instead, they have that high-speed smack of a punk band from the Lower East Side mixed in with a hard rock edge like in their song, “Way Back Home.” When I hear them play, and I have gone to see them more than once, I can’t help but sing and dance to their groove. The Blue Jackets not only have a welcoming sound driven by powerful guitar and heart-pounding drums, it also has P.T. Walkley. Not only he is the mastermind behind the music and lyrics; his voice is the perfect lead for this band.
Which brings me to my next favorite new band, PT Walkley and the Adventures of Track Rabbit. I was able to catch them a couple of months back at Lit in the East Village. Lit is a bar that has a space downstairs reminiscent of what the Batcave would look like if it had no special gadgets but instead was set up to be a den of dance. That night the batcave had everything it needed to get the crowd to rock out. Songs like “Overwhelming”, really allowed Walkley to show us how his voice and guitar playing is going to get him and his band(s) to the big time. This song reminds me of the many young men and women who have decided to sign away their names and lives to fight for war. This self-titled album has a sound that reminds me of the Beatles with an additional layer hard-hitting edge. ”Movies” gives a sample of tasty guitar tidbits throughout and then takes you into the psychedelic mood similar to the fabulous four. Track Rabbit songs have a multitude of layers that entice the listener to want more. In the song, “Up the Walls” there is an incredible mood enhancing capability that energizes you as you listen. It is the perfect opening song on their
upcoming self-titled album.
The next time you are reading your favorite source for live music and are trying to see what you are going to check out this week, please go see these bands. I haven’t had this much fun listening to a new band in a long time. Soon, both of their albums will be available and you’ll also be able to download songs from both Track Rabbit and Blue Jacket on iTunes. If you
happened to be at the Dublin Film Festival this past week, you probably caught The Blue Jackets in their international debut. And if you are in the NYC, don’t forget to catch them at the Artistilove.com launch party on March 19, 2007 at the Bowery Poetry Club.
P.T. Walkley is a name you should remember, everything he has his hands on is a natural success. I hope you take my advice and look out for these future legends of rock!
Rock: 60's Rock