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Centro-matic "Fort Recovery" Irish Release 28 April 2006 on Cooking Vinyl |
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| Friday
28 April sees the release of "Fort Recovery",
Centro-matic's first album for Cooking Vinyl. "Fort
Recovery" was recorded last September and the twelve
tracks were taken from a session of twenty eight recorded. The UK/European
release includes three brand new bonus tracks unavailable to the
USA.
Chief singer and songwriter, Will Johnson, has been highly prolific over the bands last ten years making this the eight Centro-matic album (4th release in Europe). In that time, Will has also written and recorded three South San Gabriel records and two solo albums as well playing something like 1200 live gigs. Centro-matic, oft compared to the likes of the Replacements, The Flaming Lips and Neil Young, is Will Johnson's outlet for the bands "bombastic fizz laden rock songs", where on the other hand South San Gabriel is for their dreamy alt.country laden tracks. Patterson Hood, lead Trucker of the Drive By Truckers, has these choice words to say about the new album: "Centro-matic's music comes on like a sound from a distant dream, something new, yet unmistakably familiar. Clear images adding up to something a little vague, but in such a comforting way. Their music is somehow like something I heard in my head as a child, yet I know I didn't. I find myself singing along with their songs the first time I hear them. They're the best live band in America and know how to make great records. Bunches of them, they're prolific as hell, yet some how they keep getting better." "At any rate, Fort Recovery is my favourite Centro-matic album. My favourite album by my favourite band. That's a beautiful thing that I hope to never outgrow. One of life's pleasures. When I was in fifth grade my favourite band was Pink Floyd and my favourite album was Dark Side of the Moon, at fifteen it was Bruce Springsteen and Darkness on the Edge of Town. At one point The Replacements Tim held that position. Big Star's Radio City hovers around there somewhere and lord knows I love plenty of Neil Young and Bob Dylan records." "Centro-matic is my favourite band that is still vital and intact. Their brand new album is their best yet. My un-mastered cd-r copy is honestly my favourite new album of the past five years. I have listened to it several times a day for five weeks straight and like those great masterpieces of old I still find new things to love at every listen. Centro-matic's Fort Recovery is a masterpiece and I don't use that word often." "Fort Recovery" was recorded in Denton Texas at Matt Pence's Echo Lab studio where the likes of American Music Club, Jay Farrar have produced albums. Matt has also has taken all the photos for Centro-mastic. Centro-matic will soon be hitting these shores this coming May for festival and club dates |
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On March 6th, 1996, Will Johnson climbed out from behind his drum kit, plugged in an electric guitar and fired up a one-man band named after a pawn shop accordion he had found in Thorny, Texas. The earliest Centro-matic shows were just Johnson's unmistakable raspy vocals, the growl of that electric guitar, and foot-stomping percussion. After a few of those solo shows, Johnson started to long for the band he'd hear in his head, so he recruited Scott Danbom, Mark Hedman, and Matt Pence to round out Centro-matic. The quartet became a North Texas staple, releasing album after album of anthemic fuzz rock and putting on a live show that became legendary -- beer-fuelled marathon sets that often stretched hours in length gave them a reputation as one of Texas's finest.
Fast forward to 2006. A decade, almost to the day, and Centro-matic are readying the release of Fort Recovery. So much has changed. Centro-matic have toured throughout North America and Europe numerous times including sell out shows at the Beyond Nashville fest. They've logged time on the road with artists like My Morning Jacket, Drive-By Truckers, Ben Kweller, AMC, Death Cab for Cutie and countless others. Will Johnson's embarked on a successful solo career, and the Centro-matic boys have started a second band, South San Gabriel, for Johnson's hazier, more downtempo song writing forays which received Americana albums of the month in both MOJO and UNCUT. Between Johnson's three simultaneous projects, he's logged approximately 250 live performances in the past two years alone.
Fort Recovery is the culmination of Centro-matic's past decade. Culled from a recording session that produced twenty-something songs, the dozen here are Centro-matic at their finest. Electric guitars screech, evoking the spectre of Crazy Horse; Pence's drums blast furiously; and Danbom perfectly colours the songs with shades of violin and keyboards. The ballads are bittersweet. Although oft compared to the Replacements and the Flaming Lips, the hooks are pure Centro-matic -- not just in the fist-pumping bar-rock binges, but in newfangled stoned-out hymns that plumb the bottom of the rock register. And you can't forget Johnson's vocals -- the sage voice we've come to know and love -- or his effortlessly highbrow lyricism, the words soaked in surreal imagery and heartfelt emotion. Fort Recovery is Centro-matic at the top of their game, giving up honest American rock and roll of the highest standard.
Ten years is a long time. Yet Fort Recovery is not just about what's new with Centro-matic. For all the miles logged and hundreds of songs recorded, it's also about what stays the same. Sure, Centro-matic have cleaned things up a bit; some songs on Fort Recovery probably wouldn't have fit in on 1996's fuzz-rock classic “Redo the Stacks”. But Johnson, Danbom, Hedman, and Pence are doing exactly what they've always done. A decade after their first shows and recordings, the songs sound as solid as ever. And we've said it before, but hundreds of shows later, it's pretty much undeniable: They are the most reliably kick-ass live band in the Lone Star State.
Press and band quotes...
“Centro-matic is my favourite band that is still vital and intact. Their brand new album is their best yet. My un-mastered cd-r copy is my favourite album of 2005 and honestly my favourite new album of the past five years. I have listened to it several times a day for three weeks straight and like those great masterpieces of old I still find new things to love at every listen. Centro-matic's Fort Recovery is a masterpiece and I don't use that word often.” - Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers)
"What makes Will (Johnson) such a phenomenal lyricist is that he opts for the simplest language when painting an abstract picture." - Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie in the New York Times
"It's unforgettable in a Neil Young or Jeff Tweedy kind of way.
As multifarious as the indie rock canon it's practically everything: from
the South, in the basement, smoking pot, on the porch, plugging in, plucking
soft and clocking out. It's a hootenanny of sweetly weathered proportions,
free-wheeling clap-alongs and perfectly boozy balladry -- not to mention
ass kicking pop songs about rotary heels and shotgun shells. Love You
Just the Same is what a trucker cap would sound like if it could sing.
Oh, and play violin."- Magnet
"It's hearty, stick-to-your-ribs fare that makes you proud to be an American."- Rolling Stone
"These resonant fables of half-loved underdogs, essentially preposterous
scenarios reported with apocalyptic seriousness, call to mind the last
two Flaming Lips discs... the band hugely rawks here in an unprecedented
approximation of their live show, often summoning the moldy hearts of
Mould and Hart (Husker Du). Hell, a harnessed Cobain twang even surfaces..."
- Pitchforkmedia.com
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