Other Lives - Other Lives - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Other Lives are back with their new album, TAMER ANIMALS, the follow up to their critically acclaimed self titled debut. The albums first single InchFor 12Inch was picked by Thom Yorke for his playlist on Radiohead.

Other Lives, which includes Josh Onstott and Jonathon Mooney, remain focused on the search for audible clarity their next expression, their next melody, their next rhythm. Rituals, the band's third and 2015 full-length album, is a pure encapsulation of the trio's relentless drive for precision. Ambient soundscapes (InchNew FogInch) buttress against prog-rock stomp (Inch2 PyramidsInch) lending the album the experience of embarking on a choose-your-own-adventure novel. InchThere's kind of a duality to this record,Inch Tabish says, referencing InchPatternInch - Inchrhythmically kind of up-tempo, really fast-moving, marimbas, this new kind of new-wave orchestra soundInch - in opposition to the closing title track, a slow-building, piano-and-strings-anchored ballad Tabish wrote in the finals weeks of recording.

The story of Ritual Howls begins in a southwest Detroit basement in the early winter of 2012. Singer/guitarist Paul Bancell had been writing and performing solo as well as in several bands and was looking for collaborators for a new project. Ben Saginaw (bass) and Chris Samuels (synths, drums, drum machines) were acquatances that became natural fits. With the help of a friend (Jeff Navarre), they recorded their first full-length in Ben's art studio using a laptop. Paul tracked vocals at home in his bedroom and, not wanting to relinquish control, mixed and mastered the album himself. A formidable introduction to the band's haunting, cinematic blend of twangy industrial rock, their self-titled album established the band as a unique force in the landscape of dark music, both past and present. Separated by a decade, four LPs, two EPs later, Ritual Howls is an impressively cohesive first effort and testament to the band's vision that, even in it's infancy, forged a distinct sound that has only matured with perfection over time.