North ElementaryUpcoming Release: Southern Rescue Trails
Release Date: 10/16/2010
Video Series: http://vimeo.com/southernrescue
northelementary.com || reverbnation.com/northelementary
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Photo credit: Matt Hedt (click for hi res) BIO:
Clarity is overrated. Just ask North Elementary, a band that boasts its blissed-out, fuzzed-out pop with swagger equivalent to its rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities. Between distorted chords and driving riffs, John Harrison leads the band through labyrinthine songs tinged with lo-fi, vintage grit. It’s the happy medium between heady, atmospheric rock and arresting noise, and Harrison and company bounce between these two poles authoritatively. From a sound that originated in bedrooms and basements in the early ’90s to Harrison’s past involvement with psychrock band The Comas, North Elementary has proven itself a chameleon. Still, in the shift from static to beeps to arresting vocals, the band maintains a distinct and inimitable identity, one that’s garnered praise from critics throughout the Triangle and beyond. North Elementary weaves sonic textures with unexpected and incredible results, merging myriad noises into concentrated meditations. Who needs clarity when there’s so much beauty in the chaos? 307 Knox Records will release North Elementary’s next full-length this year.
-by Linnie Greene
PRESS:
"Among the best Triangle pop records of the decade!"
Indyweek
"Not For Everyone" is as good as any record that will come out of these parts this decade"
The News and Observer
"The sound is a beam of indie rock shining through an alt-country prism, reminiscent of bands like Sparklehorse, Cracker, and middle period Wilco."
OhmPark
"Chapel Hill band North Elementary brings the kind of music you can't help but like. The intricities of their sound is something to behold."
Circles of Concrete
"Cycling through sharp-edged rasp of a driven guitars and animalistic squelches of synth pulls and tugs listeners deeper into the album. Lyrically discrete and instrumentally emboldened, new meanings, feelings, and understandings of this album are found with each listen."
Secret Carrboro Ninja Patrol
"These guys create melodies laced with inspiring words for an intricate future."
FensePost
"The joy of songwriting lies in the experimentation and manipulation that comes after composition. A pop song ends once the lyrics and melody are in place, but for this Chapel Hill group, that’s where the songwriting process begins."
Performer Magazine
"I’m all for down-home, unassuming pop that rocks. North Elementary have that in spades; their songs are bursting with delicious hooks and infectious melodies, but the real treat is the way the band creates a sonic palette that goes beyond just guitars, bass, and drums."
Quick Before it Melts
"Harrison can conjure up musical landscapes, where a host of characters wander about, meet and drift apart again. In this incarnation of the band there are plenty of layers to unravel. A pair of decent headphones recommended."
Here Comes the Flood
"The release of this record should see them move up the stratosphere, just have a listen to 'Golden Tigers' if you don't believe me!"
Swear I'm Not Paul
