New Jersey's Titus Andronicus are a hard band to wrap your head around at first, but given the power of the human imagination, you can feel something strange brewing in your soiled brain that points toward familiar ground, despite the Shakespearian angle their name may suggest. This debut 7" on Shake Appeal Records comes wrapped in a beautiful sleeve and contains two tokens of admission to realms you may not be inclined to venture into at first, but the thread that ties the songs together has a captivating charm and a uniqueness that doesn't come to the surface as often as it should, which is why you should take note. What seems like an almost indie rock slant on first impression of the A-side's title track, quickly evolves into a surging wall of sound that conjures up nuances of early Jesus And Mary Chain mashed with even dirgier, less open-ended choruses that hold it together perfectly for a truly different approach to rock'n roll, all the while paying tribute to their heroes with a style all their own. With an ever-rotating cast of band members now settled as a five piece, and a second single already on the way from Troubleman in the next few weeks, these guys could easily blow up into something crazy, albeit on a larger level altogether. Incorporating those shiny, jangling hooks with an irresistable knack for creative chorus chants done with just the right amount of lo-fi essence, it's no wonder people are starting to stop and pay attention to this promising bunch of East Coast artisians. They even throw in a Dylan-esque layer of harmonica that alienates it further from the indie rock niche they're somehow lumped in with, but simultaneously blossoms into something completely new and invigorating, despite the pessimistic ringing repitition of "Your life is over, your life is over" which sticks in your head, ad infinitum. They're still young enough to grow in a million possible directions, and they seem to have their own unique sound on lock, so it's only a matter of time before you start to see them playing live in a town near you this summer. Check out the title track, "Titus Andronicus" HERE along with a couple of unreleased songs from their next single, and pick up a copy of this great debut single directly through the band, or from Shake Appeal via any of the fine mailorder links on our front page.
check out a video clip for "Landscape With Icarus" courtesy of ohmyladyfinch right here...
