Vundabar Share Bouncing Jangle Punk
Outsider Anthem “Darla” via VICE
Gawk LP due out July 24th via
the band’s own Gawk Records
http://www.vice.com/read/vundabar-are-best-friends-who-make-good-post-punk-915
Stereogum recently premiered “Chop,” noting the band’s unique take on the Boston underground’s sound and their ability for crafting pure pop out of complexity and intricate song structures:
“Enter Vundabar, an excellent example of the way in which all of the melodic intricacies picked up and defined as the “Boston sound” can easily be repurposed and reordered into pop songs with broader appeal. “Chop” has all of the same yanking arrangements and spitfire drum beats as some of Vundabar’s peers, but their vocal performance and lyrical prose sound untethered to the favored aesthetic of their immediate surroundings”
SPIN shared the album’s second single, “Oulala,” saying, “treads in pop territory, but it also traffics in the band’s signature brand of dynamic shifts. Though it kicks off with clattering drums and punchy guitar, the track’s four-and-a-half minutes are also packed with sing-song hooks, knotty instrumental lines, and a hazy coda that recalls a revved-up Real Estate track”.
TOUR DATES:
07/17 – Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East w/ Pile, Creaturos & more
07/23 – New Brunswick, NJ @ The Court Tavern
BIO:
Vundabar was born out of the alienation that goes along with the high school years. Brandon Hagen (20) was a lanky weirdo, ill equipped for Scituate High School’s long standing history of sports, trucks, and drinking. His recreational activities included dodging rocks thrown by groups of future frat bro’s and in turn further egging them on by relaying spray painted messages in their driveways. Drew McDonald (20) was an equally lanky glasses-wearing loner, having moved three times throughout his youth to finally end up living next door to Brandon. This chance occurrence made Hagen and McDonald into an unlikely pair.
Taking solace in music and absurdist humor, they would watch stand-up specials for hours, share albums with one another, and hash out the songs which would become Vundabar’s first full length, ‘Antics‘, which they recorded in Drew’s room with two microphones and garageband. Brandon projected his feelings of resentment, humor, and cynicism into his songs. There is an element of jest and aggression in Vundabar’s music which roots itself in the experiences of condemnation and alienation Hagen experienced throughout high school.
After a self release, incessant touring, and having Zackery Abramo (21) join to play bass, they received an offer from a French booking agency to tour throughout Europe. In the summer and fall of 2014 they toured Europe for three months, with a month long US tour wedged in the middle. Despite the excitement that came along with these opportunities, each member’s home life was becoming more and more unstable throughout these tours. Between divorces, foreclosures, financial troubles and debilitating mental health problems, the band had become a source of stability in a seemingly all at once unstable world. After these tours ended the three went into Mystic Valley Analog Recording Studio to record a follow up to ‘Antics‘.
The album that resulted, ‘Gawk‘, is a dynamic collection of ten songs. It blends pop sensibilities, loud quiet loud dynamics, and jarring energy. There are themes of alienation, identity, perception, detachment and a quiet bitterness blended with humor threading its way through the album. It is a culmination of last two years of their lives.
[pre-order]
1. Chop [stream/embed]
2. Oulala [stream/embed]
3. Cotton Kid
4. Darla [stream/embed]
5. Alien Blues
6. Ash In The Sun
7. Bust
8. Worn/Wander
9. Desert Diddy
10. Smile Boyo
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