Guitars
- From:
- Houston, Texas
- Joined:
- over 3 years ago
Bio
In a world where rock music has found itself evolving at an uncomfortable rate, Guitars are the sons and daughters of rock & roll, the standard bearers for the heart and soul of American music.
All trails blazed by our forebearers lead to Guitars
Guitars are one of the most promising bands in the barren landscape otherwise known as Houston’s independent music scene. These Space City natives draw their inspiration from the classic rock & roll of the Rolling Stones, the raw sound of early punk rockers Television, the experimental song craft of art rock legends The Velvet Underground and the alt-country leanings of Wilco. Channeling the dirty urban worlds of Lou Reed and Tom Verlaine yet steeped deeply in the heart of Buck Owen’s Texas soul the songs of Guitars are a clarion call to all of those waiting for a good time.
The band was formed in the early summer of 2008 by singer/guitarist Pope Jon PPPP, singer/bassist april5000, and rhythm guitarist Snakey. Pope Jon and Snakey also play together in local heavyweights The Monocles; april5000 is the singer/bassist for punk metal band ¡ALARMA! Having conquered more aggressive musical styles Pope Jon turned his attentions to the accessible world of pop craftsmanship. By what some may call coincidence but other may see clearly as the will of the gods, Guitars were joined by JD & Stacey Tucker on drums and keyboards/guitar respectively in the wake of the break-up of their band Over Sea Under Stone. Aside from merely playing music the Tuckers are prominent independent music activists in the Houston scene, JD’s Streetcar Music International having released the seminal emo/indie rock album The First Crush Compilation featuring the now household names of At the Drive-In and Jimmy Eat World as well as underground legends Mineral, I Hate Myself and Pop Unknown. JD & Stacey also perform with Lazy Horse’s Neil Higginbotham in the punk rock outfit Lenny Briscoe. In July 2008, Guitars recorded two demos at Streetcar Music HQ which were subsequently released on myspace with hundreds of listens within the first few hours.
Previous to the release of these demos, there were two Guitars performances; the first a solo performance at Houston’s River Oaks Theater by frontman Pope Jon and the second as a stand-in for an unavailable Monocles at local bar Boondocks. The crowd at Boondocks warmly received this debut performance of what was now a local music supergroup. Immediately upon leaving the stage Guitars were offered a spot opening for garage punk legends The Cynics. Amid the hype of this stellar performance Guitars were scheduled for a college radio appearance on Rice’s KTRU station and were bombarded with offers for other shows with prominent bands.
UPDATE: In August of 2008 Guitars opened for Seattle’s The Greatest Hits, wowing the band and receiving offers of assistance in bringing their American Music to the Northwest. Having won over crowds at multiple Houston area performances, Guitars have most recently conquered the Westheimer Block Party, shaking the asses of many a Houston live music lover and quickly selling out of copies of their 3 song EP Recordings. The EP was recorded in the wake of Hurricane Ike in mid-September 2008 and includes the songs “Stupid Light”, “Waiting for a Good Time” and “I Can’t Wait”. Also, by the end of the Block Party, Guitars were offered spots on two upcoming shows opening for national acts The Golden Boys and Wilderness, respectively.
Currently the band is promoting Recordings, and is preparing new material to be recorded for an upcoming LP, all while honing their pop genius to the delight of Houston audiences.
What people have said:
“Um .. if nothing else, this band is just cooler than everyone else. Period. Featuring J.D. and Stacey from Lenny Briscoe, Pope Jon PPP and Snakey from the Monocles and April 5k from Alarma! They’re way cooler than you and the sooner you accept it, the sooner we can all move on with our lives. Also, they were gracious enough to play the inaugural Marshall Law House show so they will always have a special place in my heart.”
Niki7 of Houston’s Something Fierce
“Then there is also the Monocles, Lenny Briscoe, Alarma super-group Guitars whose new EP is like every great Indie rock trope you love condensed into three songs.”
Ramon “LP4” Medina, Free Press Houston
“Guitars treads somewhere between early Sonic Youth and Sleater-Kinney. A strong female singer (occasionally accompanied by distorted male vocals) is backed by guitars that are plucked, distorted and/or droned out. It’s all carried along by a steady bass line and simple drums that will have listeners rockin’ back and forth instead of rockin’ out. (And we mean that in a good way.) The local, three-guy-two-gal fivesome consists of members from Alarma!, The Monocles and Lenny Briscoe. This incarnation, however, isn’t akin to any of these, so fans should be ready to hear a different sound when Guitars tunes up between fellow rockers Lazy Horse and The Born Liars.”
-Dusti Rhodes, Houston Press
“Guitars followed with the lads dressed as Pilgrims, the ladies dressed as Indians, and JD dressed as the most frightening Turkey ever. (Stacey was quite proud of her seamstress skills on the Indian outfits). The music is a nice mish-mash of influences and the nice thing is that while the costumes were funny and cute they never overwhelmed the performance or the music – they added but they were never a distraction. It was energetic and fun stuff all around.”
Ramon “LP4” Medina, Free Press Houston
“Guitars, a cluster-fuck of genre-fusion, performed second. This band’s tentacles spread way beyond the typical rock n’ roll mold that some may try to fit them in.”
IndieHouston.org
http://myspace.com/guitarszzzzz
http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=167474
