New and Noteworthy: The Alternates-Spiders and Webs EP

Luck found me the other day on Twitter as Los Angeles based band The Alternates came up in the "Similar To You" category and I followed. And the Alternates followed me. And since I've had a chance to listen to an advance copy of their debut EP "Spiders and Webs" a few times and have finally found an up and coming band I can put my carriage behind. I say finally because a few other times I'd been contacted by some artists or agencies that I couldn't generate any interest in giving a recommendation. That's not the case with The Alternates. This is something I'd enjoy occasionally and, even more important, something I think some friends of mine would really enjoy listening to often.

What gets me the most about "Spiders and Webs" is it's got the gusto of a band that has already had several recordings under their belt. There is a huge veteran sense of musicianship running through the six songs on the EP. If opener "The Modern Way" has a west cost Avett Brothers Americana vibe, then don't let the rest of the EP fool you unto thinking they're pigeonholed into that category. They kind of tackle all points of Americana put more in a way of, say, My Morning Jacket or Son Volt and that is a huge chunk of the charm. "The Modern Way" is a lovely front porch summer jam, "Changing" Course" is led by an awesome guitar line and has the smarts to add in horns to its menu, and the seven minute plus "Metamorphosis" never feels like a lengthy jam thanks to it's variation in tempo and driving style. Lead singer Spencer Livingston has a voice reminiscent of Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age (The title track best examplele track) or Justin
Harris of Menomena ("Nature Of The Mind" is the best example) but his way of holding on to notes in his approach gives each song another layer of character.

Their EP was funded through fans through a fund-raising campaign on kickstarter.com which is something cool in itself. There is no release date for this EP yet but keep an eye out through the links provided below for further information. Also below is a couple songs via SoundCloud available for your listening pleasure (Lead single "The Modern Way" and "Slow and Steady"). Thanks to keyboardist Jake Craven for forwarding the information and I wish him and his mates good luck on future successes because their debut shows they have a lot of potential for it.

  The Modern Way by The Alternates

  Slow And Steady by The Alternates

The Alternates West Coast Tour Dates:

June 16th- Queen Bee's- San Diego

June 17th- TRiP- Santa Monica

June 18th- Good Hurt- West Los Angeles

June 21st- Blue Cafe- Long Beach, CA

June 22nd- Frog and Peach- San Luis Obispo

June 23rd- Grant And Green- San Francisco, CA

June 25th- Brainwash Cafe- San Francisco

June 28th- Skylark Cafe & Club- Seattle, Washington

June 29th- Platform Booking- Spokane, Washington

June 30th- Twilight Bar- Portland, Oregon

July 3rd - Moe's Alley- Santa Cruz CA

July 5th- El Cid- Los Angeles, California

Here's some links provided to follow the band:

thealternatesband.com

on Twitter 

on Facebook 

thealternates.bandcamp.com

Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2011/05/new-and-noteworthy-alternates-spiders.html

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