TAKING BACK MY FAVOURITE DAY OF THE WEEK!




Like my fellow bloggers, Marc and Hutch, I frequent many a gig. When I heard Hutch talking about the Drones and how active the lead vocalist, Gareth Liddiard was, Taking Back Sunday instantly came to mind. Adam Lazzara has to be one of the best showmen i have seen from any band (hefty call I know). As soon as the guitar from Fred Mascherino exploded on their recent gig at the Roundhouse UNSW, Lazzara was dancing (the robot-one to note), mic twirling (avante guarde-ly) and adding his own flavour to what everyone thinks what a good (correction GREAT) frontman should have. For any of you who arent into the 'emo' scene these guys will be your chance to broaden your tastes.

Their new album Louder Now is out at the end of April and I for one am all over it. I have had a listen to all the tracks (thanks to Mike from Atticus and Macbeth) and it is certainly an evolved beast from their previous album Where You Want To Be. From the high-octane drumming and blazing syncopated riffs that rain down on Whats It Feel Like to Be a Ghost, the opening track on Louder Now its clear that the albums title couldnt be more fitting. Faster, darker and harder than its 2004 predecessor, the best-selling Where You Want To Be, which launched the New York-based quintet into the hearts and minds of indie rock fans everywhere, Louder Now is the album that bottles the lightning that this powerful, melodic hardcore band generate whenever they hit the stage.

Taking Back Sunday are:

Adam Lazzara vocals
Fred Mascherino guitar, vocals
Eddie Reyes guitar
Mark OConnell drum
Matt Rubano bass

Below is an interview that I nabbed from their website. Av a read and enjoy something new:

{We love our first two albums [Where You Want To Be and the 2002 debut on Victory Records Tell All Your Friends], but we were always told that our live show had more energy than the records, says guitarist-vocalist Fred Mascherino. Our intention with this one was to capture that energy. Keeping that in mind the whole time we made our record, we got some really intense results.

Louder Nows intensity was propelled by producer Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Third Eye Blind) pushing Taking Back Sunday to be better at every turn. Eric brings to the table the rare ability to take a band thats been playing for years to an entirely higher level, says Mascherino. He calls you out if your song isnt hitting where its supposed to. He thinks about every element. We learned a ton from working with him.

The band members knew they wanted to go beyond their formula of pop-tinged hardcore anthems. It was important to us when recording Louder Now that we give fans a full listening experience. Mascherino says. One of the ways we tried to accomplish that was to experiment with new and different sounds for songs. One example is the rollicking Miami. The drum kit was set up in the smallest room in the studio, giving Mark OConnells drumming a tight 80s sound, complementing Matt Rubanos basslines and further topped with Cure-like guitar tones, and a scorching guitar solo. The end result is unlike anything Taking Back Sunday have recorded to date.

The albums first single MakeDamnSure relies on classic Taking Back Sunday influence, with singer Adam Lazzaras yowling vocals mixed with Eddie Reyes and Mascherinos slashing guitars. The twin guitar assault and emotional point/counterpoint lyrics are still the lynchpin of their sound.

After releasing Where You Want To Be, the band played around a bazillion shows, by Mascherinos reckoning (You seriously forget your address and home phone number), including the 2004 Warped Tour, British rock festivals Reading and Leeds, and a sold-out headlining tour. Things did not let up in 2005 when they did a co-headlining arena tour of North America with Jimmy Eat World and performed two sold-out shows in June at Britains Milton Keynes National Bowl with Green Day, each band playing to the biggest audiences of their careers.

Continuously inspired during life on the road, Taking Back Sunday wrote and recorded pieces of songs with gear stored on the bus. It can be damaging to live like this being away from home, Mascherino admits. The space and distance affects us so much it even seeps into the music. I feel like Louder Now is a much darker record than Where You Want to Be, especially on tracks like Liar (It Takes One to Know One). The overall tone, mood, and lyrics give you a deeper feeling.

Relentless touring paid off with sold-out arena tours and delirious fan support. Combined, Tell All Your Friends and Where You Want to Be have scanned more than 1.4 million copies and the latter debuted at Number Three on the Billboard Top 200, selling more than 163,000 copies its first week of release in July 2004. It has sold nearly 700,000 copies to date. Effusive praise in Rolling Stone, Spin, and Entertainment Weekly soon followed and Taking Back Sunday appeared on the cover of Alternative Press for the third time and the band remained a staple on both MTV and Fuse. In 2005, the band was tapped to record a track for the hit movie Fantastic Four. Error Operator appears on the films soundtrack and on Louder Now.

Determined to get their new album right "we set out to create something that we considered timeless", says Mascherino. We didnt want something that people would listen to in 10 years and say, Thats from 2006 when all the records sounded like that. We wanted people to listen to it in 10 years and say, Hell, yeah, turn that up!}

Now that you have had a read, have a listen and a look:

Listen to their latest single being played on Triple j at the moment Make Damn Sure:
www.myspace.com/takingbacksunday

Download their vids to get an idea of how these guys behave on stage:
www.takingbacksunday.com/newalbumsite/index.php?area=audiovideo

Cheers, Stuey