Performer Mag reviewed the New Centuries EP. The disc is available at CD Baby and will soon be available on iTunes.
The New Centuries — The New Centuries EP
Recorded and mixed by Matt Strickland at H.I.T. Wall Studios
Mastered by Mike Wells at Hyde Street StudiosEffervescent and haunting, The New Centuries’ debut EP is brimming with subtle urgency — an anxiousness that is enveloped by guitarist Jeff Bissell’s Johnny Marr-inspired riffs undulating in syncopated time with Ryan Bogart’s languid, terse vocals. Bogart’s voice seems to have been dragged over an ice-coated gravel bed while at a tender age, combining elements of disaffected cynicism with emotive clarity. Eccentric keyboards and Sabrina Crawford’s percussion reign in the conjoined antics, punctuating any tangential dalliances. The New Centuries at once invoke Velvet Underground (as sung by Ian Curtis) and include a palate of influences ranging from The Magnetic Fields to Destroyer.
The EP opens with an upbeat track that would be difficult for even the most ardent argyle advocate to sit through. Describing yet “Another Midnight Show,” Bogart illuminates how even the jaded spill drinks during their favorite songs. One of the defining moments on the disc comes in “Stockton Street Tunnels” when Bogart painfully tears out “We should be out there gaining ground / We’re respected men about town / America’s newest models on the dance floor,” while Bissell throws out riffs worthy of Tom Morello playing Lynyrd Skynyrd. The last cut on this five-song EP, “The Middle Years,” is a testament to a mix-tape culture struggling for survival.
The New Centuries show that there are still a few bastions of sensible mayhem at large in San Francisco — kids who have gotten past the scattered rush of youth, crooning instead of howling at the moon. Their debut is sure to give even the most disillusioned of scenesters something worthy of a playlist for the centennial nouveau. (Self-released)
www.myspace.com/thenewcenturies
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