PRESS RELEASE

Musicianship aside, the members of the band aren’t just singing their songs: they are living them. The raw, saturated edges of the band’s tracks are deeply tied to the group’s bohemian lifestyle and their “anything goes” attitude. Constantly embracing new possibilities, The Things managed to develop a distinctive sonic formula that only musicians who bonded on a deeply personal level can understand. The band members live together in a community at The Skipper Room in Los Angeles, where they spend every waking moment focused on their creativity. Their music is recorded to tape as a way to capture honest performances, free from the overly polished plastic perfection that plagues oh-so-many modern rock albums in this day and age. Frontman Lukas Neufeld is arguably a big part of the sound of the band, as he uses his vocals creatively, matching his instinctive wit with his passion for electronics. It’s not very often that you see a singer with a massive pedalboard (nearly 20 stompboxes!) and even a theremin, to freak out with some otherworldly, abstract noises, and bring the shows to a high climax. Bassist holding down the grooves is Justice Joslin; owner of The Skipper Room, where the band records and lives, and who also moonlights as a highly successful international model. Drummer Matty “Moose” Pert isn’t kidding around either. His drumming sounds like it’s straight out of a 70s record: that fat, thumpy snare sound is somewhat of a holy grail tone, and only the best, most tasteful drummers are able to achieve that feel so seamlessly. It’s not just about tossing some dampening on your drum head: it’s all about feeling the music and providing a solid backbone for the rest of the band to unfold. Adam Chavira holds down the wind. A talented and dedicated woodwind player- he soars all over the album with flute, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. Sometimes sitting pretty with a delicate counter melody, sometimes bringing the thunder of a doubled bass line, and everything in between. Last but not least, guitarist Oscar Bugarin is a phenom of a player who brings a pedigree of inventive riffs and atmospheric guitar parts to the table: he’s the final piece of the puzzle in this incredibly unique sonic formula.

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Not content with solely building their own legacy, the band spreads the love in their artistic community and beyond. Creating and headlining the festival “Musical Meeting of Magical Minds”, they brought a collective of artists together to share a wild 2 day weekend with the public filled with roller discos, half-pipes, aerial artists, and slackliners balancing 100 ft above the stage.

 

Vicarious Catharsis kicks off with a more atmospheric introduction. Still, the song immediately allows the dynamics of the structure to ramp up, achieving a powerful blend of incisive melodies and organic instrumental tones that add more realness and depth to the track. I would highly recommend listening to this release if you like the sound of artists such as Tame Impala, Death From Above 1979, All Them Witches, and Black Lips, only to mention a few.

 

Find out more about The Things, and do not miss out on Vicarious Catharsis’s music, now available on the best digital streaming platforms.

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