SMC ~ The Staggering Statistics - All of this and More

kdpjam

ok, i hope its my turn, stoneg said it was, so here goes:

this is from the summerskiss.com website and its a pretty good write up about this band. this record reminds me of all the bands mentioned in the article, and a hint of the whigs without dulli. i am interested to know what everyone else thinks. enjoy!!!

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The Staggering Statistics began as a three-piece rock band from Cincinnati, OH. Bassist John Curley is a founding member of the Afghan Whigs and owns Cincinnati’s Ultrasuede recording studio. Austin Brown is a prolific songwriter and musician who played in dozens of bands from Houston to Seattle before arriving in Cincinnati and joining dozens more, many at the same time. Joe and Austin had worked together at Kaldi’s on Main in the late 1990’s. During that time, they composed and recorded music in Joe’s downtown apartment.

The Staggering Statistics formed in late 2002 as a series of improvisational jams at Ultrasuede involving Curley, Brown and various drummers. Eventually the jam sessions began to produce songs and the band played its first show on July 3, 2003. Since then, the group has continued to play Cincinnati and elsewhere. In addition, The Staggering Statistics have also appeared on bills with The Twilight Singers, The Violent Femmes and The Von Bondies.

The self-titled, self-released, debut EP came out in September 2004. It’s available on line at CD Baby and The Apple iTunes Music Store. The follow up LP, “All of this and more…” is scheduled for release on Cincinnati’s own Shake-It Records in early 2006. At this time, The Staggering Statistics continue to play shows in and around Cincinnati. In June 2005, the band played its first shows in New York City and Washington, DC and began recording their 3rd record, “Pixelated Ones & Zeros”.

Musically, The Staggering Statistics have drawn comparisons to Pavement, Lou Reed, Television and The Who. The sound is full and exciting, ranging from delicate melodies to decapitating fuzz bass solos. Austin’s cool vocal delivery and Joe’s British invasion harmonies float atop a sonic sea that is always more than the sum of its parts. This is a unique band with excellent lyrics, great songs and a killer live show.

Update Nov. 2005 - Sam Wommelsdorf joins up on guitar and keyboards. Sam is also in the band Culture Queer. Before that, Sam was in Throneberry, who put out several records on Alias and toured the US and Europe.

transplant

sounds great, I'll grab this tonight.

viggs20

I will download this later tonight but can't say if I'll listen to it soon. Been very busy lately and still have to listen to The National.

transplant

got this on repeat today. will have some thoughts at the end of the work day.

alobar

I've got this downloaded and I'll check it out very soon. Sounds cool.

kdpjam

i've got this one on repeat too. save for a very few minutes of boredom, i like this record. it rocks, and i can only hope they open for the whigs or the twilight singers.

StoneG82

been giving it some spins.....

I'll post some comments later

transplant

ok. solid record.

I was worried at first that these would be a collection of second rate Whigs tracks. the opening song though wasn't bad, it smelled strongly of Whigs without the sex appeal.

That notion pretty much ended with the start of the second track. From there it almost went into more polished rugged 70's punk. Perhaps the Pere Ubu discs have been spinning in the studio who knows. It works well for me. I enjoy the 4th, 7th, 8th, and 9th the best. I didn't skip anything however the ending track is somewhat weak.

I plan on listening to it more today though I have listened to this probably 10 times. If something else grabs me I'll post it. Agreed, these guys would be an excellent opening band for the Whigs reunion. (which will be sweeeeeet).

AndySlash

Looks like I missed this one. The link already expired. I thought you had seven days for YSI?

It's not on Oink, either.

kdpjam

hmm.. i'll see if i can get it back

alobar

kdpjam wrote:

Musically, The Staggering Statistics have drawn comparisons to Pavement, Lou Reed, Television and The Who. The sound is full and exciting, ranging from delicate melodies to decapitating fuzz bass solos. Austin’s cool vocal delivery and Joe’s British invasion harmonies float atop a sonic sea that is always more than the sum of its parts.

Shit, I thought I had something original to say about them after listening to this album 4 or 5 times now. I was going to say that I could hear some Pavement and Lou Reed in their sound, but I guess those comparisons are old news. Damn.

This one has been a grower for me. I was at first turned off by its homogeneity, which still gets to me when I reach song 10 (and I'm ready for something else), but I tried listening to the individual songs and I started really liking them. I love the first three songs the most and also song 7 and 8. Song 6 I didn't like at all. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd say song 2, but 8 is a close second.

Thanks kat, for the cool selection.

viggs20

I found this album to be consistent throughout without being eye-catching. Of the bands mentioned I think The Staggering Statistics most sound like Pavement but unlike them this didn't bore me. I particularly liked Winner takes all, Objects in the mirror and Its all a matter of time. Good pick, Kat.