By John Luther
Published on June 5, 2010 at 1:41am
Welcome back to Texas the Sour Notes from your cross country tour! Good luck playing before the Flaming Lips at that big festival in Houston on Sunday!
Ok- time to stop talking directly to a band that doesn’t know me. How about I switch to talking to a whole internet that doesn’t know me. Ahem… The Sour Notes have been in different incarnations since 2008 but now they are primed take over. Need some one to co-sign that statement? How’s about Daniel Johnston who they are opening for at Mohawk June 19th? Apparently he is only playing on Austin show all of 2010 and they will be setting the tone for him. Not too shabby for a bunch of shoe gaze and keyboard fans… They are currently working on their fourth album Write What You Know expected to be released in December 2010.
To tide you over until the future- check out these songs NOW!
MP3: The Sour Notes: Do-ers & Say-ers
MP3: The Sour Notes: Beyond Recognition
By Ryan Ray
Published on January 27, 2010 at 1:41am
The Sour Notes are an Austin band who have arguably released more material in the last couple of years than any other local band. What makes the large discography for such a new band (3 LPs and a 7″ to be exact) even more impressive is that each release was put out on the band’s dime. Anyone who has been involved with a band currently shopping a label knows how hard releasing material on your own can be. Don’t tell that to leading man Jared Boulanger. He Originally started The Sour Notes in Houston, TX as a moniker for what was essentially a solo project. Shortly after his debut in 2008, Boulanger began bringing some friends on board to a form a new band that could tour and play live shows together locally and nationally. 2010 has seen the band release a new LP It’s Not Gonna Be Pretty with a follow up already planned for later this year. Now, recently returning from another east coast tour, the band has a welcome home show planned for Thursday night at Mohawk. The up and coming locals will be playing along with Zest of Yore and The Demigs.
By Laurie Gallardo
Published on January 27, 2010 at 1:41am
It’s a great triple bill of local peeps this Thursday at the Mohawk, each throwing down their own blend of pop styles – power, indie, psychedelic, electronic…you get the picture. Austin band Zest of Yore runs in the catchy, power-hook vein with a Guided By Voices/Robyn Hitchcock vibe; Denton and Dallas/Fort Worth music scenesters The Demigs move more into the rock side of pop; and Austin quartet The Sour Notes (featuring singer-songwriter Elaine Greer) tosses some dance rhythms into the pop mix.
This is all good, and all good for you. Catch these bands Thursday night on the indoor stage at the Mohawk, 912 Red River. Get there around 9:30 or 10-ish in the PM. Check it all out.
By Austin Powell
Published on January 22, 2010 at 1:41am
In bowling terms, the Sour Notes just notched a turkey: three significant, successive releases in just over a year. Latest LP It’s Not Gonna Be Pretty rules the roost – dense, sincere indie pop for the Garden State generation. “I’m not afraid to say that this album will be the best record I’ll ever put out,” admits singer-songwriter Jared Boulanger. “That’s kind of disheartening to say, but we’ve gotten progressively louder and thicker in the sound and faster paced. It’s like everything that we tried to do previously came together on this album.” Originally envisioned as a solo vehicle, the Sour Notes has ripened quickly since Boulanger moved to Austin from Houston in 2008, coinciding with the release of the band’s debut EP, The Meat of the Fruit. The quartet just finished a two-week East Coast tour that was filmed for a documentary, and a third full-length is already in the can, though Boulanger plans to hold off on its release for a while in hopes of gaining some more national attention. “I like to think that I’m writing little pop song scores to movies,” relates Boulanger, who shares a house with multi-instrumentalist Chris Page. “Most of the songs are themed after specific movies in the Criterion Collection. I get totally wrapped up in the feeling of what I’m watching and let that dictate the music.” The Sour Notes light up Mohawk on Thursday, Jan. 28, with contemporaries the Demigs and Zest of Yore.
By Doug Freeman
Published on December 8, 2008 at 1:41am
The Sour Notes burst suddenly onto the local scene this year with the release of their debut EP, The Meat of the Fruit, a beauty of an album with deceptively intricate layers and the juxtaposition of Jared Boulanger’s weighty, reflexive lyrics on a bed of mellow, swaying pop. A touch of Death Cab for Cutie rings throughout the quartet’s work, both in Boulanger’s sentiments and voice. The group is planning the release of their full-length debut this January, and already recording their follow up as well as planning to head out on their first tour. If you’re looking for one of Austin’s best new bands, the Sour Notes have to be near the top of that list, and you can see them this Thursday, December 11, at the Mohawk with One Hundred Flowers, the Great Nostalgic, and Bear Claw.
Profile: The Sour Notes
Year Formed:
I happen to be listening to ‘Examination of What’ at this very moment… So, it’s fitting, I guess, to say…
“One day, uhh, while sippin’ some groove juice
I realized that in the span of time we’re just babies
It’s all relative, time is unreal
We’re just babies
We’re just babies man”
But, technically… We formed this year.
Members/Instruments played:
Chris unplugs cables, tinkers with synth settings and adjusts the volumes of things while Travis beat boxes. Brandi and Jared try and think of the perfect “That’s what she said” joke till they’re finished.
Former Bands/Side Projects:
The Notorious J.A.R.E.D. (released only 1 single titled ‘Streak Freakin’)
Hackett the Racket
Woozyheadband
Albums:
Our debut album, The Meat of the Fruit was self-released in May 2008 and our 2nd album, Received in Bitterness will be released New Years Day 2009! You can also expect our 3rd album, It’s Not Gonna Be Pretty (which we are currently recording) soon after!
Influences:
Go for a run, then select an Ingmar Bergman film to watch while eating the first meal of the day… Consisting usually of a large portion of pasta topped with either alfredo sauce or marinara, lots of parmesan cheese and accompanied by a hefty glass of cheap champagne… Usually Andre’ or Cook’s.
Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music:
Strangest comment: “You guys are unbelievable!” – by Drunk Concert Goer
Strangest comparison: “It’s like when you’re having sex on a leaky water-bed and your partner says ‘We’re not on a water-bed’… But with drums… Know what I mean?” – Same Drunk Concert Goer
Favorite local bands:
Ume, Yellow Fever, Diagonals, Many Birthdays, Pataphysics, Belaire, David Israel, One Hundred Flowers, The Great Nostalgic, Bear Claw, Octopus Project… Just to name a few… I really don’t wanna take up the whole article with this… But I could… Easily.
Favorite local venue:
Mohawk outside (which we are ‘yet’ to play)… Every time I see a show there on a fair-weather night, it’s just magical!
Upcoming shows scheduled:
Mohawk inside, Dec. 11th w/One Hundred Flowers, The Great Nostalgic, Bear Claw. COME TO THIS SHOW… IT’S A BIRTHDAY PARTY TOO!
Shows over the next month that you’re excited to see:
If we weren’t going to be on tour, I’d be really excited to see The Donkeys @ Mohawk on Jan 13th…
Some of your favorite albums from the past year:
‘In Rainbows’ by Radiohead
‘Does You Inspire You’ by Chairlift
‘Directions to See a Ghost’ by The Black Angels
Ideal band (past or present) to open for on a national tour:
Past: Francoise Hardy
Present: Antony and The Johnsons
Austin Sound questions:
What can you tell us about the upcoming album?
We went for more of a ‘raw’ feel on ‘Received in Bitterness’, mainly because we’d like every record to sound different from one another. It’s not quite as delicate sounding as our previous effort and was recorded very quickly, very much as a group. The songs on this album are unique to me, personally, because they were written in a way I wasn’t accustomed to, just by the way I was living at that moment.. I had a night job, I didn’t brush my teeth or get dressed before 5 in the afternoon, I stayed home all day in my pajamas drinking champagne and playing guitar to subtitled films. I was sort of lost in ‘movie-land’. Another thing that’s unique about this album, is the fact that every song on ‘Received in Bitterness’ was written and recorded during the day, in the actual order they appear on the album. As opposed to ‘The Meat of the Fruit’, which was written and recorded entirely at night.
What’s the best or worst thing any of y’all have ever received in bitterness?
Well… The title comes from being in situations where you might accept or be vulnerable to things happening to you, and letting them happen, even though you might just be tricking yourself knowingly, because you’re tired… Or bored… And you feel guilty about it… A little.
Song Introduction:
In my opinion, this song and video encompass the overall feeling of ‘Received in Bitterness’. It features Vocalist Micaila San Miguel and Brass sections by Matt Holmes and Tina Le.
Is It Happening? from The Sour Notes on Vimeo.
The cover of Jawbreaker’s ‘Accident Prone’ was actually the first thing we recorded before starting on the ‘Received in Bitterness’ album. Jawbreaker is one of my favorite bands and I’ve always wanted to do a really ‘opposite take’ on one of their songs. We even changed the chord progressions and arrangement of the song to sort of make it our own. I hope listeners don’t miss that long instrumental break and drum roll build-up… hehe.
Sound Off:
Willie Hughes was one of those ‘That do not do the thing they most do show, Who, moving others are themselves as stone.
Mp3:
Accident Prone (Jawbreaker Cover)
Websites:
www.thesournotes.com
Myspace
